


When Past is Present

by AnnaOnTheMoon



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: 1950s, 2370s, Alien Species, Broken Holodeck, Drama, England - Freeform, Enterprise 1701-D, Eventual Romance, F/M, Ferengi, Ferengi are Stupid, Holodeck, Humour, Klingons, Military, Mind Control, Mystery, PTSD, Post WW2, Post-War England, Psychological Trauma, RAF - Freeform, RAF base, Romance, Royal Air Force, Time Travel, WW2, WWII, flashbacks to WWII, wibbly wobbly timey wimey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-15 01:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14149293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaOnTheMoon/pseuds/AnnaOnTheMoon
Summary: Jean-Luc, Beverly, and the crew of the Enterprise wake up to find themselves stationed on an RAF base in the 1950s.  Why are they here? Was it time travel?  A holodeck malfunction?  And why can't they remember how they got there?***update Nov 12 2018*** This fic is NOT abandoned. It is merely on hiatus.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm doing lots of research on the RAF to get things as accurate as possible, but please excuse any mistakes I might make. To the best of my ability (and my husband's!), we have worked out the rank equivalents to be the following: 
> 
> Captain - Group Captain  
> Commander - Wing Commander  
> Lt. Commander - Squadron Leader  
> Lieutenant - Flight Lieutenant  
> Lieutenant JG - Flying Officer  
> Ensign - Pilot Officer

Jean-Luc awoke when the sun coming in through the window hit his face and he stirred, feeling the warmth of the woman next to him in bed.  His arm was wrapped around her and his hand just brushed against her breast.  Jean-Luc smiled, content with himself and just as his eyes were drifting shut, he sat straight up in bed, dislodging his partner. 

 _Sunshine?  There shouldn’t be sunshine. And...a woman?  I don’t remember asking anyone back to my quarters last night..._ Jean-Luc was not the kind of man who typically had flings or invited women back to his quarters so he turned towards the now disgruntled woman and let out a small sigh.  Beverly.  While he was relieved his bedfellow was his best friend, he was also curious how they got into this position, as they both appeared to be naked.  Had they gotten so drunk they didn’t even remember the night before? 

Beverly opened her eyes and grumbled. “Could have warned a girl before taking the covers....” and then it was her turn to gasp as she realised she was naked in bed with her best friend.  She snatched at the sheet and tugged it up to her armpits.  “Jean-Luc?  Where are we? What happened?” 

“I don’t know.  Beverly, do you remember anything about last night? Did we...sleep together?”  Beverly wiggled her hips slightly.  “I do feel as thought we might have.” 

 _“Merde._ Beverly, I’m sorry.”

“Well, it takes two, so I’m as much to blame as you are.  But where are we?  Are we in one of your Dixon Hill holonovels?”  Jean-Luc looked around at the room.  While the furnishings appeared to date back to Dixon’s era, it didn’t look like his apartment, nor did the view outside the window.  “No, this isn’t Dix’s apartment.  Maybe we’re in a different holoprogam?  Computer: end program!” Beverly waited for the images to fade around her and be replaced by the black and yellow grid of the holodeck and was surprised when nothing happened.  Jean-Luc frowned. “Computer: Door.”  Again, nothing.  “Well, if we’re on the holodeck, something has malfunctioned.  And if we’re not...where are we?”  Jean-Luc swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up to pace.  Beverly laughed.

“Er...Jean-Luc?”

“Yes?”

“You’re naked.”  Jean-Luc blushed and his hands moved to cover his crotch.  “Not that I’m not enjoying the show, but our uniforms must be around here somewhere....”  Jean-Luc spied a pair of men’s underwear and shoved them on.  He found a cotton dressing gown draped over a chair and he passed it to Beverly.  “I don’t see our uniforms anywhere, Beverly. Were we in civvies?” 

Beverly shook her head. “I honestly can’t remember a thing about last night.  Must have drunk quite a lot...but I don’t have a hangover or headache, do you?”  Jean-Luc shook his head. “No.” He resumed his exploration of the room and turned his back so Beverly could put on her dressing gown.  “Jean-Luc?  Look at your hand.”

“My hand?” 

“Hmm. Specifically, your left hand.”  Jean-Luc stared down at his hand and was shocked to see a gold band wrapped around his left ring finger.  “Beverly?”

“I have one too.  Jean-Luc, I think we got married.” 

“ _Mon Dieu._ Beverly, I’m so sorry.”

“You said that already.  But like I said, it takes two, so I’m equally to blame.  So where are we?  How did we get here?” Beverly turned to look out the window.  “No clues there.  And where are our clothes?” 

Jean-Luc found a wardrobe in the corner and opened it to reveal a British military uniform from the mid-twentieth century next to a nurse’s uniform.  “I found some clothing.  An RAF Group Captain and a head nurse’s uniform are in the closet.”  Beverly grumbled.  “Great. You get to keep your rank, I’m a lowly nurse, wherever we are.” 

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.  Perhaps we were in a holoprogram that has malfunctioned.  I don’t see my comm badge anywhere though, do you?”  Beverly got out of the bed and started looking around the room.  “Nope. No badges, no tricorder, no uniforms.  But I don’t remember anything. Did we go on a date last night?”  Jean-Luc smiled and reached over to clasp Beverly’s hand. “I would hope if I took you on a date we would both remember it.” 

“Me too.  But that really doesn’t help our situation.”  Beverly thought for a minute. “Crusher to Bridge.”  Nothing.  Jean-Luc tried. “Picard to Riker.”  Silence. 

“Ok...so if we’re on the holodeck not only is the computer not responding to commands, but the communication system is down? “

“Appears to be.”  Beverly sighed and walked over to the wardrobe and fingered the uniform hanging there.  “And these are the only clothing?”

“I haven’t looked in the drawers.”  Beverly slid open the top drawer of the dresser.  Ladies lingerie, surprisingly in Beverly’s size. The next drawer held men’s underwear – boxers, undershirts, and socks. The bottom two drawers contained pyjamas and nightgowns.  Beverly sighed.  “Well, I guess we’ll have to wear those.  I’m not walking around in a dressing gown all day.”

“I think there might be a bathroom through that door. Do you want to check and see if you can take a shower while I try to find us something to eat? I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”  Beverly nodded and gathered some of the lingerie in her arms along with the nurse’s dress.  Jean-Luc pulled a T-shirt over his head and headed towards what looked like a living room and dining room, and sure enough, on the other side of the small dining table there was a kitchenette.  Jean-Luc grimaced when he saw the stove top percolator for the coffee and hoped he could remember how to work one.  For once, having grown up without the advances of technology due to his technophobe father might actually come in handy.

Beverly breezed out of the bathroom and caught a whiff of bacon and eggs cooking. “Jean-Luc?  Bathroom’s free.  The water is only lukewarm, but it will do.  It seems as though everything we might need is already here, and I noticed an old manual razor for you.”  She reached up and brushed his cheek.  “And someone needs a shave.”

“Oh?  My wife for less than a day and telling me what to do?  Tsk tsk.”  He was grinning at her.  She grinned back.  “I see my ‘husband’ has been quite the domestic this morning.”

“No replicator, I’m afraid, but  I grew up without one and Maman taught me how to cook.”

“Nana and I didn’t have one, either.  I still remember the first time I was standing in front of one in the cadet canteen. I had no idea what I was doing!”  She laughed at the memory and reached for the utensil Jean-Luc was holding. “Go shower. I think I can manage to finish making breakfast.”

“Thanks.”  Jean-Luc awkwardly leaned over and kissed her cheek and she blushed.  She swatted at him. “Go.”

“Yes, dear,” he said with a cheeky grin.

After breakfast, they ventured outside their little bungalow and they were both shocked at the sight in front of them.  They appeared to be on a military base somewhere on Earth, the United Kingdom if Jean-Luc’s thinking was correct.  Jean-Luc held out his arm for Beverly as they walked across the grass in hopes of finding out more information.  Every soldier who walked past the pair saluted Jean-Luc, and he awkwardly saluted back. He leaned down low to whisper in Beverly’s ear. “1950s Great Britain, I think.  But why did we pick this program?”  Beverly shook her head and pointed to where she saw a woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform with long, dark hair walking arm in arm with a tall man with dark hair and a beard.  “I think I see Deanna and Will over there.” 

Beverly waved at Deanna and she alerted Will and they changed direction to walk towards the pair.

“Number One, report?”   Will shook his head. “I don’t know, Sir.  We woke up in one of the bungalows over there with these uniforms in a closet.  I was hoping you might know, Sir.” Jean-Luc shook his head.  “No, but at least it appears we have kept our ranks. I am a Group Captain, and you appear to be my second in command.”  Beverly cleared her throat.

“Speak for yourself, Jean-Luc. Deanna and I appear to have been demoted down to nurses!”  Jean-Luc frowned. “I know. I’m sorry. I don’t think there were many female doctors in the 1950s.”

“Is that where we are, Sir?”

“I think so, Number One. Judging from the uniforms and where we are, I would say we are on an Air Force base in the United Kingdom sometime after World War Two.”  Beverly continued to scowl. 

“Fine for you and Will. But what are we supposed to do? We don’t even know how we got here and we don’t have any of our equipment! “  Jean-Luc reached out to tuck a piece of Beverly’s hair back behind her ear and Deanna gasped.  “I know, Beverly.  Look, let’s try to stick together.  If we get separated, we’ll all meet back and Beverly and my quarters, over there.”  He pointed towards a row of bungalows.  “Our number appeared to be 7.” 

Deanna spoke up. “Sir,  do I spy a wedding ring on your finger?” 

“Ah, yes.  Yes you do.  It appears as though Beverly and I are married.”

“Congratulations, Sir. Doctor.”  Will grinned at his friends.  “Will, I’m not sure you should call me Doctor.  I guess I’m Nurse Picard.”  Jean-Luc grinned. “Not Nurse Crusher?” 

“Not if we’re married.  If I’m remembering my history, women almost always took the name of their spouse as soon as they were married.”  She looked over at Deanna and Will. “Can I assume you are Nurse Riker?” Deanna shook her head. “No rings on our fingers.” 

Jean-Luc clapped his hands. “Right.  I think the first thing we need to do is find out who else from the crew is here.  Worf and Data would both stick out like sore thumbs.”

“What about Wesley?”  Jean-Luc frowned.  “A bright young man like him....codebreaking.  I bet we’ll find him with the codebreakers. Let’s think about this logically.  If Worf is here with us, his job as Chief of Security would probably make him an MP.  I think Wing Commander Riker and I should head in that direction.  Nurse Picard and Nurse Troi, I think you should report to the hospital wing.  Perhaps you’ll find Squadron Leader La Forge there. Tell anyone you find from our crew to meet back at Beverly and my quarters tonight at 1900.  We’ll figure out why we’re here and more importantly, how to get out of here.”  Everyone nodded and Beverly leaned up and gave Jean-Luc a quick kiss. “What was that for?”

“If I’m your wife, it stands to reason we would kiss each other goodbye.”  Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows. “Ah.”

When Beverly and Deanna walked into the infirmary, Beverly recoiled at how primitive it was.  “Really wish I had my medical tricorder,”  she murmured to Deanna.  They began working their way through the beds and Deanna shuddered at the state of some of the men they encountered -  lost limbs, eyes, and in one case, half a man’s face was missing.  “This was war, Deanna.  The Second World War only recently ended.  These must be some of the men wounded on the field.”  Deanna nodded and Beverly reached out to pat her hand. “I know.  I don’t like it, either.  For some of them, all we can do is make them comfortable. But let’s keep looking. We’re bound to find some of the crew.” 

They got lucky in the next row.  Seated on a chair next to a bed with a dark-skinned man with white eyes due to blindness was none other than Reg Barclay.  He was seated next to Geordi.  “Thank goodness you found us! Commander, it’s Counsellor Troi and Doctor Crusher-“ He looked up as Beverly shook her head.  “Shh, Reg. We’re only nurses here.” She reached out and clasped Geordi’s hand.  “Geordi, it’s Beverly. Are you alright?”

“I think so, Doc..er...Nurse.  But I can’t find my VISOR anywhere.”   Beverly frowned.  Of course, if they really had travelled back in time, Geordi wouldn’t have his VISOR. She lowered her voice so only Geordi, Reg, and Deanna could hear her.  “I’m sorry, Geordi. We appear to be in the 1950s.  The Captain wants us all to meet in our bungalow tonight so we can figure out how to get out of here.  Geordi raised his eyebrows. “Your bungalow?”  Beverly blushed before answering. “It seems the Captain and I are married here.” A huge grin spread across his face.  “That’s brilliant!”

“Yes, well...Anyway, I’ll try to get you a white stick.  Reg, can you stay and help Geordi?  Do you know why you’re here?”

“N-n-no, D-nurse.  When I wo-woke up, a nurse asked me if I wanted to visit my friend and brought me to the Commander.”  Just then, one of the military doctors showed up. “Ah, Squadron Leader La Forge, Nurse Picard. No doubt your husband asked you to check on his crew.”  Beverly mustered a smile for the doctor. “Absolutely.  Jean-Luc wanted to make sure Squadron Leader La Forge was comfortable and actually, I was going to check to see if we could have him over for dinner tonight.  Flight Lieutenant Barclay, too.”   The doctor frowned. “Well, I suppose as there’s nothing wrong with La Forge other than being blind, but you _are_ aware that Barclay is suffering from shell shock?  It might not be a good idea...” 

Deanna spoke up. “Doctor,  I have some training in treating shell shock. I’d be happy to look after him.” 

“Well, we could use the empty beds....fine.  Squadron Leader La Forge, I discharge you into the care of Nurse Picard, and Flight Lieutenant Barclay, I leave you in the care of Nurse Troi.” 

Jean-Luc and Will were not having as easy of a time as Beverly and Deanna.  They had located the MP office and discovered Flight Lieutenant Worf was listed as their head, but no one knew where he was.  They equally hit a dead end trying to locate Wesley and Data.  It appeared that the intelligence operation was quite secretive and even suggesting Jean-Luc needed to speak with his step-son urgently did nothing for them.  Finally, Jean-Luc decided to check the housing list and headed towards the barracks where Wesley was housed.  He managed to pin a note to the notice board addressed to ‘Pilot Officer Crusher’ inviting him to dinner that evening and suggested he bring ‘his friend Squadron Leader Data’ and he could only hope the notice would reach Wesley.

The finally located Worf performing a training exercise with his squadron.  When he saw his Captain and First Officer, he nodded in recognition, but finished the exercise before moving towards them. “Captain, Commander.  Good to see you.”

“Mister Worf.  I see you seem to be adjusting well?”

“Sir, I will perform my duties no matter what they are or where they are.” 

“Worf, how do you explain your...”  Will pointed to his own forehead.  “An unfortunate birth defect, apparently. “  Will nodded.

“Well, then, Carry on Flight Lieutenant.  I only came to let you know that Beverly expects you for dinner tonight at 1900.  Our bungalow is number seven.” Worf shot him a puzzled look and Jean-Luc raised his left hand. “It appears, Mister Worf, that in this....reality...Beverly and I are married.”

“Ah. Congratulations, Sir.”  Jean-Luc cleared his throat. “Yes, Sir. Please tell your wife I would be honoured to attend.”  Jean-Luc lowered his voice before speaking again, “And Lieutenant , if you spot anyone _else_ from the ship, please bring them along.  I don’t know how many of us are here.” 

“Of course, Sir.”

###

“Is it working?”

“Yes, DiaMon, it appears to be working. They think they are on an RAF base in Earth’s twentieth century.”

“Good, good.  Press the button.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bridge Crew names are actual crewmen, but I might have them in the wrong area as Memory Alpha only provides names and rank for most!

Jean-Luc surveyed the small crowd gathered in his and Beverly’s meagre quarters.  Wesley had spotted the note and Beverly wouldn’t let him out of her sight and had his hand gripped in hers.  Wesley had brought Data and a few other Ensigns he spotted sharing his barracks, Worf had found three members of security working as part of the Military Police, and Beverly and Deanna had brought Reg and Geordi with them and Beverly had found Doctor Selar posing as a nurse, and Doctor Hill as one of the field doctors.  Seventeen people out of his crew of over 400, and who knew how many of the civilians had been somehow transported there.  Doctor Hill had brought his wife along, but there was no sign of anyone else’s spouses and none of the children were present. 

“Right.  First of all, if you run into any other crewmen or civilians from the ship, please have them report to me immediately.  Data, I’m going to rely on you to keep a list of crew here as I don’t have access to a computer and I wouldn’t want a written list to fall into the wrong hands.”  Data nodded and cocked his head, no doubt creating a record of everyone who was present. 

“Now,  I know you all are used to following my orders, and I appreciate that immensely, but if you have been assigned elsewhere, please do follow the orders of your superior officer and try to remember the terminology.  I am a Group Captain, Commander Riker holds the rank of Wing Commander,”  Beverly cleared her throat. “Beverly and Counsellor Troi would be Wing Commanders, but as of now I do not think women are permitted to serve, nor are they doctors, so Beverly, Deanna, and Selar are nurses.  If you are a Lieutenant Commander, you are now a Squadron Leader.  Lieutenants are Flight Lieutenants.  Lieutenant JG are Flying Officers, and Ensigns are Pilot Officers.  We are no longer Starfleet, we are part of the Royal Air Force, or RAF.”

“Sir?  Do you know what happened?”

“I’m sorry, Ensign, I mean, _Pilot Offier_ , I honestly have no clue.  Nor do I know if this is real or simply a malfunctioning holodeck. I am open to opinions at this point.”

Geordi spoke up. “Sir, without my VISOR, I am mostly useless, but it does force me to use my other senses.  I can detect a faint hum and feel a very slight vibration, which leads me to believe if we are not on the _Enterprise_ , we might be on another ship or some other kind of simulated place.”  Jean-Luc smiled at the man.  “Thank you, Mister La Forge.  We will try to find you some way of seeing.  If we _are_ on the holodeck, your VISOR must be somewhere.  Everyone, you know what it looks like. Be on the lookout for it.”  There were nods all around the table. 

“Geordi is correct.  I can detect a small vibration, similar to the vibrations on board the _Enterprise_ , and there is a high-pitched hum.”

“Mister Data, can you detect where you are?”

“No, I am sorry Sir. Usually I know exactly where I am on the _Enterprise_ , but my sensors must be malfunctioning.”  Data issued a rare frown. “I suppose if I need maintenance, it will be a problem without my lab.” 

“Don’t worry, Data.  Geordi and I can fix you, no matter where we are.”

“Thank you, Wesley.” 

 

 

“Hey Doc? Will I have to return to the infirmary?”  Geordi looked in the direction where he had heard Beverly’s voice earlier. “I’m sorry, Geordi. I’m not sure I know what we can do for you.  In this time period, blind individuals were often institutionalised at a Blind Institute as they required constant care and rarely did they live alone.”  Beverly glanced over at Jean-Luc, who nodded.  “You would have to sleep on the sofa out here, but you could always stay with Jean-Luc and I.”

“Oh, no Doc. I couldn’t interrupt your honeymoon.”  Wesley gasped. 

“Honeymoon?  Mom, did you marry the Captain?”  Beverly blushed.  “We don’t know what happened, Wes. Jean-Luc and I woke up sharing a bed and wearing wedding rings.”

“Cool.”

“I take it you’re ok with this, Ensign?”  Wesley grinned at Jean-Luc.  “Absolutely, Captain!” 

“Anyone else find themselves in interesting  living situations?”  Heads shook all around the room.  Deanna and Will had stayed quiet, although they had told Jean-Luc and Beverly about waking up together. 

“Geordi, I think you used to live with Lieutenant Barclay and I. You may stay there and I will help you.” 

“Thanks, Data. I appreciate it.”

Jean-Luc looked towards the small group of Ensigns. Wesley had found four Ensigns in the barracks and two of Worf’s security staff were young Ensigns.  They looked barely older than Wesley, obviously straight out of the Academy. There was fear in their eyes and Jean-Luc supposed this must be their first crisis situation.  “Ensigns,  I want you to know that it’s alright to feel lost and afraid.  Frankly, I’m feeling a little lost myself.  Please don’t hesitate to speak with myself, Beverly, Counsellor Troi, or Commander Riker if you feel you need any help.  We will figure out a way out of this, I promise you that.” 

“Mister Data, Mister La Forge, Mister Barclay, and Wesley, I want you to try and figure out if we are still on the _Enterprise_.  I think that is step one.  Once we can figure out where we are, we can work on a step two.  And if we _are_ on the _Enterprise_ , we should assume there are crewman working to get us out of here as well. If we could figure out a way to contact them...but that will be after we determine where we are.”  The foursome nodded and Beverly reluctantly let go of her son’s hand so he could join the others in a corner where they started to discuss ideas.  Jean-Luc reached an arm out for Beverly and she settled against his shoulder.  Two of the Ensigns exchanged smirks until they saw Worf glaring at them. 

Jean-Luc noticed the smirk. “I know this is hard for some of you to see your superiors in a more intimate light than usual, but the important thing is that we all stay together and if that means you become a bit more familiar with the senior staff, so be it.”  There were nods all around.  

“Doctor Hill, I know it’s going to be strange, being my superior, but you’re going to have to _try_.”  Doctor Hill nodded at Beverly.  “I will do my best, Doctor Crusher. Err...Picard. Nurse?”  Beverly laughed. “You’ll have to call me Nurse Picard, I suppose.  I’ll let you know if I keep the name when we get out of here.”  Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows at his best friend, but chose to file her comment away to discuss later. 

“Medicine here is fairly primitive.  Captain Picard thinks we might be somewhere in the 1950s. It’s definitely after World War Two....we’ll just have to do our best and try not to draw attention to ourselves...Doctor Selar, you and I are going to have to remember we are only nurses, not qualified doctors.”  Selar nodded.  “I will do my utmost.” 

“Never doubted it.  Uh...Deanna, I’m sorry. I guess they didn’t have psychologists as part of the military.”

“They didn’t.  What they call shell shock came to be known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but in this era I believe the only treatment was to buck up.”  Jean-Luc gave a wry smile.  “I wish we could do something for the men actually suffering, but if this is real, we can’t risk altering the timeline.” 

“I understand, Sir.” 

“I knew you would, Counsellor. Now, Mister Worf, you’re the head of the Military Police?”

“Yes, Sir.” 

“Good, good.  I suppose there isn’t much else for you and your men to do except continue on in your capacity as security.  Be on the lookout for other crewmen and for anything suspicious that might lead us to understanding why we are here.” 

“Understood, Sir.” 

“Sir?”  One of the Ensigns asked.  “Yes?”

“Uhm...what do we do?” Jean-Luc glanced at the young man and briefly pictured a blue uniform. “Ah, you’re with Stellar Cartography, aren’t you?”  The young man nodded. “Where did you find yourself assigned this morning?” 

“Mechanical Engineering, Sir.  But I don’t know anything about engineering...I’m a scientist.”  Two of the other Ensigns nodded their heads in agreement with their friend. Jean-Luc sighed.  “I wish I had something better to tell you, Ensign, but I think you’re just going to have to fake it.  Perhaps speak with Mister La Forge about a crash course in general Engineering...no, on better thought...ask Mister Barclay.”

“Yes, Sir.”  Jean-Luc’s eyes roamed around the room. “Right, I don’t know about any of you, but I’m beat.  Let’s plan to meet back here again tomorrow evening at the same time, unless you find out something sooner alright?  Dismissed.”

The crew began to shuffle out of Jean-Luc and Beverly’s quarters and they were approached by Wesley. “Data said there is a fourth bed in his quarters, so I’m going to move there so we can continue to work together if that’s alright with you, Sir.” 

Jean-Luc smiled at Wesley. “Of course, son.  That’s an excellent idea.” 

“Son.  I like that, Sir. Or can I call you _Dad_?”  Jean-Luc blushed and Beverly laughed.  “Yes, well, er...I suppose in this reality I _am_ married to your mother...and we don’t know how long we’ve been married for so...it might...be appropriate....”  He trailed off and looked over at Beverly who only grinned at him. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“Err....right.” 

###

“I wanted angst and guilt, not... _this_ ”

“What should we do?”

“We tinker.  We make it harder for them to figure out where they are....and then, we take the _Enterprise._ ”

Plek ran his hands over the device and altered a few things.  “DiaMon, we shouldn’t have taken the android or the blind one.  They can figure this out easily. And what about that smart kid?”  DaiMon Zegg hit Plek on the back of his head.  “Are you questioning my plan?”

“Uh...No.”

“Good.” Zegg smiled.  “I needed the android and the blind one removed or they would be able to thwart our plans.”

“And if they figure out where they are?”

“Well, Plek, we’ll just have to make it a little bit harder...turn the wheel.”

###

Jean-Luc emerged from the bathroom, clad in a pair of long-sleeved pyjamas.  “Beverly, I can sleep on the sofa....” he trailed off, after noticing Beverly was half undressed.  She was wearing a strange contraption around her waist with clips for her stockings dangling off them.  Beverly turned around and Jean-Luc bit back a moan. 

“Don’t be silly. You’re my husband.” 

“I know, but....this isn’t the way I planned for any of this to happen.”  Beverly grinned at Jean-Luc. “So you had something planned?”  Jean-Luc blushed.

“Well....I thought about it....”

“It?”

“Being with you...dating you....marrying you...”  Beverly smiled. “I see. I would be lying if I hadn’t thought about being with you ,too. Now would you help me get this off?”

“How did you get it on in the first place?”

“Lots of tugging.”  Jean-Luc eyed the white satin contraption.  “What _is_ it?”

“A girdle.  Apparently, women wore them to showcase their hourglass figures.” 

“I see. And you knew about this how?”  Beverly smirked. “I read.  Now be a good husband and help me get this off!” 

“But  it doesn’t have any clasps....how do I....where do I?” 

“Oh, just tug!”  Jean-Luc gave Beverly a dubious look, but he placed his hands on either side of the girdle and tugged.  “You’re not kidding. This thing is stuck fast.” 

“I know,” Beverly moaned. “Find a pair of scissors. I think I’m going to have to cut myself out of it.” Jean-Luc shook his head.  “Let me try again. Maybe it rolls down?”  He folded over the top twice. “Look, I think we can roll it off.”  Beverly gasped. “Sure, but it gets...tighter...as you roll!”  Beverly managed to gasp out. 

“Maybe I can tug it now?”  Jean-Luc once again reached for the side and with a loud sucking sound the girdle finally came free and slid down Beverly’s hips and thighs...taking her knickers with it.  Jean-Luc blushed at the sight of Beverly’s dark red curls.  “Uhm....Bev?  You might ah...the thing is I can see your...”

“I suppose it’s only fair.  You gave me a show this morning.  Like what you see?”  Beverly reached behind and unclasped the monstrous bra and Jean-Luc had to close his eyes and bite his lip.  “Beverly....” 

Jean-Luc had his eyes closed when he felt Beverly’s arms circle his shoulders and she leaned up and gently kissed his cheek.  “You’re such a gentleman.”  She pulled on one of the nightgowns and frowned. It was overly frilly and not at all her style, but it would do. “You can open your eyes now. I have on a nightgown.”  Jean-Luc opened his eyes.

“It’s not that I don’t want to....I just....I’m not sure if we should...given the situation...”  Beverly laughed at his awkwardness. “I think I see what you’re saying.  We don’t know how long we will be here for and starting a relationship, even if we are married here, might not be a good idea.”  She slid under the covers.

“Exactly. “  Jean-Luc got into bed next to Beverly and pulled her close.  He gently kissed her cheek.  “Let’s go to sleep, Beverly.  We can...explore this when we’re back.”

“ _If_ we get back,” Beverly added ominously.

###

Data remained awake long after Geordi, Reg, and Wesley had gone to bed.  He was using his sensors to monitor the vibrations and hum both he and Geordi could detect and hoped to be able to determine where they were based on the resonance frequency but the parameters kept changing and he couldn’t get a lock on it.  He turned his mind to other matters and decided to entertain the thought of time travel, since that was a distinct possibility. 

The only known forms of time travel that he was currently aware of involved either triolic waves, or a slingshot around a sun.  Data couldn’t detect any triolic waves, and he was fairly certain they hadn’t gone around a sun.  Could there be another way to time travel? More disturbing, why couldn’t he recall the events of the previous night?  It was one thing the Captain could always depend on him for – like when they had to erase everyone’s memories but he was the only one who knew what happened...but he was literally drawing a blank.  He continued to puzzle over these things while his friends slept.   

 ###

The Bridge of the _Enterprise_ was dark, lit only by emergency lighting.  Commander Trimble glanced over at Ensign T’Su. “Communications?”

“Negative, Sir. Both intra-ship and outside.”  John Trimble ran his fingers through his sandy hair in frustration.  It had been over 24 hours since anyone had seen the Captain or any of the other senior bridge crew.  They had checked their quarters and asked the computer for their location, but they had just somehow disappeared off the ship.  There were no nearby ships – alien or Starfleet, and no planets, stars, or asteroids. No shuttles had been launched, and the Captain’s Yacht was still safely docked under the bridge.

Trimble steepled his fingers and glanced over at Lieutenant Commander Fukai. “We’ve got to get a message to command.  Somehow.  Do we have anyone down in Engineering who can fix this?” 

“Unknown, Sir.  With Commander La Forge and Lieutenant Barclay missing, I’m not sure who is in charge in Engineering.”

“Well, find out!” Fukai stood. “Yes, Sir.  I’ll head there immediately.”

“Good. And I’m sorry I yelled, Arlene.  This is just...frustrating.” Arlene Fukai placed a hand on Trimble’s arm.  “I understand, Sir.” 

Arlene straightened her uniform and headed to the turbolift.  “Engineering.”  Nothing. “Engineering.”  Again, nothing. Arlene sighed. “Jeffries Tubes it is....”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if I ever thought this could be published for real, I would put way more effort into my research, but since it’s just for fun, take everything as “historical fiction”, but I am researching things. I promise. The events mentioned in Jean-Luc's flashback combine the real memoirs of two pilots who survived the Battle of Britain.

_The air was thick with the hum of airplanes and the twang of bullets hitting the metal hulls. Jean-Luc’s Hurricane had been hit and was spinning out of control. Just before he pressed his own eject button, his plane drifted towards the Hurricane piloted by his best friend, Jack Crusher and took off the rear section of Jack’s.  Jean-Luc pressed his eject button and only hoped Jack had done the same._

_Jean-Luc had landed somewhere in Kent.  He was met by two farmers who thought at first he might have been German, but his accent had quickly convinced the farmers he was with the RAF.  He scanned the skies for Jack’s parachute and watched as one of the Luftwaffe planes spotted him and blasted him with a machine gun.  Jean-Luc watched with horror as Jack jerked around like a puppet with its strings broke, and Jean-Luc witnessed Jack’s body float to the ground.  He vowed he would recover the body for Beverly and little Wesley and quickly commandeered a vehicle from the farmers and set off across the fields in a battered old tractor._

_“What are yeh goin’ to do when yeh find him?  ‘E’s dead now.”  Jean-Luc looked at the friendly farmer. “I know.  But he’s my best mate.  He has a wife, and a five-year-old son and I want to...I need to...I have to recover his body for Beverly.  It should have been me.”_

_“Now then, sonny, best not to say things like that. That’s what gets yeh discharged.  Yeh bring his body back to his wife and then yeh do the honourable thing and marry her and give that little boy of hers a father, yeh hear?”  Jean-Luc grinned at the farmer. “I’ve been in love with her for ten years.  I absolutely plan on asking her to marry me once a suitable amount of time has gone by.”_

_“Good on yeh, sonny.”_

Jean-Luc woke, bathed in sweat.  Beverly’s head was resting on his chest and she woke up when he moved. “Jean-Luc, are you....are you alright?” Jean-Luc sat up and gripped Beverly tighter.

“Beverly, I don’t know how to explain it, but I just had a dream about Jack.”   She smiled. “That’s alright, I still think about him sometimes too.”

“No, you don’t understand, Bev.  I dreamed about him _in this timeline_ and it was so real, it was more like a flashback than a dream.  I dreamed about Jack during the Battle of Britain in 1940.  I...oh god, Bev, I got him killed.”  Beverly shook her head and gently stroked his cheek. “I’m sure that’s not right, Jean-Luc.  Whatever happened to Jack, I’m sure it was an accident just like it was on the _Stargazer_....Do you want to tell me about it?” 

“No,” Jean-Luc’s voice was horse and tears were beginning to form in his eyes.

“Jean-Luc, I think it would make you feel better.” Beverly placed her hand over his chest and gasped. “My god, Jean-Luc.  Your heart is racing.  Anyone with a natural heart would be suffering from how fast it’s going.”  Beverly still had her hand on his cheek and she used her hand to turn his head towards him. “Tell me what happened.” 

“We were fighting the Luftwaffe over England.  Somewhere in the East or Southeast, I’m not sure.  We were trying to intercept the Luftwaffe before they got to London.  I got hit several times and my plane started to go down.  I radioed to my squadron that I was parachuting out and then it was almost like  slow motion as my plane spun out of control and keeled into Jack’s.  The impact took off the back of his plane just as I was hitting my eject button and as I floated to the ground, I kept looking around for Jack’s parachute.”  Jean-Luc stopped as sobs wracked his body and Beverly rubbed his back in a soothing circle. 

“I landed and was found by some farmers and I spotted Jack and I watched...oh God, Beverly, I watched as the Luftwaffe shot down Jack with their machine guns.  They just....littered him with holes and I was defenceless, on the ground.  I couldn’t do anything except watch as my best friend was shot repeatedly.”  Beverly now had tears in her eyes, but she wanted Jean-Luc to keep going, so she just kept rubbing his back and took one of his hands in her free hand to bring it to her lips in a kiss. 

“Then what happened?”

“I went to find Jack’s body and I woke up after I told the farmer that I was in love with Jack’s wife....Oh, Beverly.  How could I?  My best friend had just been shot down and I witnessed his death and I was already thinking about how I was going to tell you I was in love with you?” 

“Shhhh, it’s all right, Jean-Luc.  It wasn’t real. None of this is.  You know that.” 

“I know, but Beverly...what if this is our real life and our life in Starfleet and on the _Enterprise_ was only a dream?  I do know one thing, Bev,” Jean-Luc reached out to clasp Beverly’s hand.  “I love you.  I’ve loved you for so long, and in this timeline, it looks like I actually told you a lot sooner after Jack died...”

“Jean-Luc,  I love you too.”  Beverly kissed him and swung her legs over so she was straddling him.  She unbuttoned the buttons down the front of his pyjama top and he chuckled against her lips.  “Hey, slow down.”

“I just want to feel you.”  Jean-Luc wiggled his hips against Beverly and he knew she could feel his arousal.  After getting his top open, Beverly dragged down his pyjama bottoms until they were around his knees and he carefully kicked them the rest of the way off.  Beverly grinned and gathered up the skirt of her nightgown and rocked herself against him and shuddered.  “Hmm, something’s not fair here....”  Jean-Luc whisked off her nightgown and gazed at her naked glory.  “Much better.” 

Jean-Luc rolled them over and after shrugging off his shirt the rest of the way, they were both naked.  He leaned down and pressed a kiss against her lips.  “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Absolutely positive. I love you, Jean-Luc Picard.”

“And I love you, Beverly Picard.” 

###

“Did you send him the dream, Plek?”

“Yes, DiaMon.”

“ _And?_ ”

“He’s, ah, mating...with the redhead.” DaiMon Zegg stomped his foot.  “NO! NO! NO!”

“Ew. I didn’t know hugh-mons mated like that.”  Zegg slapped the monitoring device out of Plek’s hand.  “Why can’t I break you, Picard? What’s going to break you...”

###

When Beverly and Jean-Luc woke in the morning, they were both pleased to have remembered the night before.  “Well, I’m glad I remembered it _this_ time.”

“Mm, me too, my love.  What time is your shift today?”

“Afternoon.  So we could have a leisurely morning in bed if you don’t have to be anywhere....”  Jean-Luc groaned.  “You really _do_ want to torture me, don’t you?” 

Beverly laughed and her laughter was infectious and Jean-Luc joined in.  “Mm, so can you?”  Jean-Luc frowned.  “I would love nothing more than to spend a few hours in bed with you, my love, but I think we need to try to figure out where we are...and _when_ we are.”

“1957.”  Jean-Luc stared over at Beverly with his mouth hanging open. “Where do you get that from?”

“Simple,”  Beverly stretched and Jean-Luc couldn’t help but look at her breasts.  “You said Jack died in 1940, right?”  Jean-Luc nodded.  “So that means Wesley was born in 1935....and he’s 22.  So....”

“Ah.  You really _are_ brilliant, my love.”  He leaned over and kissed her. 

“So how long do you think you waited?”

“Hmm?”

“Before you told me you were in love with me.  I wonder how long we’ve been married?”  Jean-Luc trailed his fingers down Beverly’s arm and she shivered. “I hope it wasn’t _too_ long....”

“The war ended in 1945.  If we didn’t get married before then, I would say we definitely were married by then.”

“Oh Jean-Luc, five years? You would wait five years to tell me you loved me?” She shook her head.  “No, I think...two years.”

“I waited nearly twenty.  God, what a fool I was.” 

“No, I was the fool after KesPrytt.  You laid it all out and like a coward, I left.”  Jean-Luc lightly traced her jaw. “You weren’t ready.” 

“I didn’t want to lose my best friend.” 

“Beverly, you will _never_ lose me.”  Jean-Luc cupped her face and brought his lips to hers tenderly.  “Is that a promise?” 

“Yes.”

###

Wesley was walking across the base when he saw a young woman wearing a strange gold headband that looked eerily similar to Geordi’s VISOR.  “Miss? I was wondering, where did you get that headband?”  The woman blushed at being addressed by an airman.  “My friends and I found it....why?”  She twirled a piece of hair around her finger and hoped the airman would notice. “My mother lost one that looked just like it.  Where did you find it?” 

“Oh, it was behind one of the bungalows over there.” 

“That’s near where my mom lives with my step-dad. Listen, could I have it back?  Only, it really means a lot to my mom and I hate seeing her upset over losing it.”  The young woman tilted her head.  “Fine, but you have to take me out.”  Wesley swallowed. “Take you out?”

“Yeah. You know. Dancing.” 

“Um,  I guess so.  When did you want to go?”  The girl took off the VISOR and passed it to Wesley.  “There’s a dance on Thursday night.  Come pick me up.”  She rummaged in her small bag for a piece of paper and a pencil and scribbled her address down. “By the way, my name is Liz”

“Wesley. Nice to meet you.”  Liz swayed her hips as she walked away from Wesley and he wondered what he was getting himself into, but it was going to be worth it to give Geordi back his sight.

Wesley turned around and headed back to their shared quarters, where he knew Geordi was. He wondered what the man was doing, alone and blind, and was suddenly quite thankful for his perfect eyesight.

“Where did you find it?”  Geordi was ecstatic when Wesley placed the VISOR in his hands.  “Some girls found it and thought it was a headband. I hope it still works.”  Geordi slipped the VISOR on and waited to hear the click as it connected to the sensors implanted on his temples.  “Hmm.  I could probably do with a screwdriver to adjust it a little, but I can see again.  This is fantastic...though I suppose I’ll have to still walk around the base blind. Wouldn’t want anyone to see me with my twenty-fourth century technology.”

“Yeah, but you can take it with you to Mom and Dad’s and use it there.”

“Mom and Dad’s?”  Geordi raised his eyebrows at his young friend.

“Well...the Captain and my mom are married here...he said it was okay.  And I’ve always wanted to call him Dad.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, he’s known Mom for a long time.  After my dad died, he used to come over to check on us and he would play with me and I used to wish for him to be my dad.  I think I even asked Mom one why I couldn’t call the Captain my dad....” 

“Wes, I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

###

Lieutenant Commander Fukai had crawled out of the last Jeffries tube outside of Engineering and heaved a sigh of relief. When she entered Engineering, however, her relief soon faded.  The Warp core, usually pulsating a steady shade of blue, was dark.  Many of the consoles were dark, and the ones that were lit didn’t have anyone monitoring them.

“Hello?  Anyone here?”  Lieutenant McDowell popped his head out from under the console he was trying to bring back to life.  “Commander. What can I do for you?”

 “Commander Trimble would like to know when we might be able to get communications up and running?  We really need to notify Starfleet about...well, about this mess we seem to be in.”  McDowell looked around Engineering. “Do you see anybody here?”

“Uh...no. Where are they?”

“Damned if I know.  Sorry, Commander.”  Fukai waved her hand. “It’s fine.  Do you think they are missing or simply not here?”  McDowell offered a shrug. “With the comms down, I can’t page anyone.  Look, tell Trimble I’ll try to get it up and running as soon as I can, and if you see anyone who might remotely know what they are doing, please send them here.”

“Of course.  I think your first course of action should be to fix the comms, then we can think about fixing everything else.  As long as we still have life support and gravity, we’ll be fine here.  It’s not like there’s anyone around....unless you can fix the turbolift right now so I don’t have to crawl back thorugh so many tubes.”

“Sorry, Commander. “

“It’s fine.  Call us on the Bridge as soon as you get the comms working again.”  Fukai spun on her heel so McDowell wouldn’t see her grimace as she thought about how long it had taken her to climb through all those Jeffries tubes and now she was going to have to do it all over again.

###

The meeting in the Picard’s bungalow that night had increased to 25, with the arrival of eight members of the engineering team who had been working on the new Vulcan planes.  Jean-Luc surveyed the group.  “Geordi, it’s good to see you with your VISOR again.“

“Thank you, Sir.  Wesley found it. Some girl was using it as a headband.”  Jean-Luc smiled at his step-son. “How did you get it from her?”

“I, uh...have to take her dancing on Thursday.”  Jean-Luc chuckled and patted Wesley on the back. “Good on you, son.” He turned to the rest of the group. “Anything new to report?”  The assembled group shook their heads. 

“Well, I do. Beverly and I have worked out the year.  It is 1957.  For whatever significance that might have.”

Will asked the question that was on everyone else’s minds. “Sir, how did you come to this conclusion?”  Jean-Luc exchanged a glance with Beverly, who reached out to squeeze his hand. “I had a vivid dream that felt like a flashback to the Battle of Britain in 1940. During that battle, Jack Crusher died.  Beverly worked out based on Wesley’s current age and the age he was in 1940 that this year has to be 1957.”  Deanna shot Beverly a look and she just mouthed “later” back at her friend.

“Has anyone figured out if we are on our ship or somewhere else?  Have we actually travelled back in time?”

“No, Sir.  I am sorry. I am still unable to work out where we are. My sensors are malfunctioning.  But perhaps now that Geordi has his VISOR back he might be able to offer some insight.”

“Mister La Forge?”

“Sir, I need to be able to wear my VISOR outside of your quarters and mine in order to try to detect any kind of wall or energy signature, and I’m not sure how.”

“What about at night?  We could go out after our meeting. Leave someone on the lookout and if they see anyone coming you can remove your VISOR and we can say I was escorting you back to your quarters.”

“Yes Sir, I think that might work.”

“Mister Worf, anything new to report?”  Worf shook his head. “No, Sir. I’m sorry.  We are trying to locate any other members of our crew, but it is difficult without the use of tricorders.”  Jean-Luc nodded. “I understand. I think it’s safe to say that with the exception of you and Doctor Selar, everyone else who might be here is either human or part-human.” Worf nodded.

“Have we managed to figure out a way of contacting anyone outside of...here?”

“No, Sir.  Without any of our comm badges it’s going to be hard to try to rig anything up, but we might be able to use one of the field telephones to at least get a signal out of...wherever we are.” 

“And we still don’t know.” Jean-Luc sighed.  “Well, everyone, the most I can say is keep up whatever your assignment is here and keep an eye out for any other crewmen who might be stranded here.  If you need me, you know where I am.  Dismissed.”  Most of the crew shuffled out of the small bungalow except for Deanna, Will, Data, Geordi, Worf, and Wesley.  Jean-Luc let his face relax in the presence of his friends.  “This is getting extremely frustrating.”

“Perhaps you need some...stress relief, Sir.” Will wiggled his eyebrows at Beverly and Jean-Luc and Beverly blushed.  Jean-Luc merely rolled his eyes at his trusty second. He was used to Will’s ribald comments. After all, it was Will Riker who thought it had been a good joke to send him on holiday to a pleasure planet several years ago. 

“Mister La Forge, if you are ready, I think we should try to find out if you can detect anything.  Mister Worf, I’d like you to serve as our lookout.  Data, you come along too.” The three nodded and waited for Jean-Luc who walked over to Beverly.  “I’ll be as long as it takes, my love.” He leaned down and gave her a kiss, which caused Will to raise his eyebrows higher.  Once the small group had left, he turned to Beverly. “So...the Captain is kissing you and calling you ‘my love’, is he?” 

Beverly tried to hide her smirk. “Well, we _are_ married you know.” 

“Hmm.  In this timeline maybe but in ours?  What’s going on, Bev?”

“Nope.  What goes on between Jean-Luc and I is private. You should know that, Will.  Now, how about a game of poker while we wait for the others to return?” 

“Why don’t you tell me about Captain Picard’s dream.  He said it felt like a flashback?” 

“Deanna, I think you should probably talk to Jean-Luc, but yes. He basically experienced PTSD over an event that never happened. We don’t know why, but earlier today, I went digging through the desk in the corner, and...”  Beverly went over to the desk and pulled out a telegram and handed it to Deanna.  Deanna’s eyes went wide. 

“But Beverly, this is an actual telegram informing you of Jack’s death.  How is that possible?”  Beverly shook her head.  “I don’t know, Dee.  If this is a hologram, it’s a damn good one that’s for sure.  But with Jean-Luc’s dream...I mean...could we all be crazy?  Did we all share a dream where we were in the twenty-fourth century on a starship?” 

“Well...it _is_ possible to share dreams like that, I really don’t think this is our reality. How would you explain Worf, Doctor Selar, or even myself?  We’re all not human. I mean, you can say we all have birth defects, but a simple blood test would show that we don’t even have human blood...and Selar’s would be green.” 

“Unless it’s not.  What if even thinking you are part alien is part of the dream?  Tomorrow, let’s do blood tests on you and Selar. I’ll do one too. We should be able to check the Oxygen isotope ratios to determine if any of us have been on a starship recently.  Of course, that’s assuming we have the right equiptment....”  Beverly sighed. 

“What would you need?”

“Ideally?  My tricorder.  But I can try seeing what a simple microscope tells me.  What do you think?”

“I think if it will ease your mind that this really isn’t our reality, we should do it.” 

“But...what about Jean-Luc’s dream, Deanna?  How did he dream Jack’s death in this timeline?”  Deanna patted her friend’s arm.  “Maybe he saw the telegram and his mind created the scenario?”  Beverly shook her head. “The first time he saw the telegram was when I found it.” 

“Hmm. I don’t know, Beverly.  But it sounds like there’s something sinister going on around here.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made up those rays. Because I couldn’t find any information about how a holodeck is built...so I get to make it up. LOL

“Sir, I’m seeing some ultragammatechra rays.  This could indicate we are on a holodeck and not on Earth.”  Geordi adjusted his VISOR.  “But, wouldn’t there be gamma rays on Earth, too?” 

“Gamma rays, yes.  But ultragammatechra rays are associated with holograms and holodecks.”

“Could you tell if this was the _Enterprise_ holodeck or if we’ve been moved?” 

“No.  Well, not yet.  I think if I make a few adjustments on my VISOR and I borrow Wesley, between him, Data, and I we might be able to figure something out.”

“Make it so.”

“I’m going to need some equipment liberated.”  Jean-Luc frowned.  “I’m not sure I have the authority to allow that, but I’ll do my best.”

“Sir, we could turn the bedroom allocated to me into a lab.”  Jean-Luc nodded at Data.  “Thank you, Data. Get me a list of what you need and where you need it from and we will see if we can get it.” 

“If we’re on a holodeck, there also should be a holodeck reactor somewhere. I know where the reactor is on the _Enterprise_ if we’re still on the ship.  But first, we’ll have to find the limits of the holodeck.  I recommend we spread out in different directions tomorrow and walk as far as we can.”

“We could probably commandeer a few Jeeps....I _think_ I remember how to drive.  It can’t be that much different from a tractor, can it?”  Geordi shrugged. 

“Right, let’s go back to the bungalow and see what the others are up to...I daresay there might be a few rounds of poker going on.”  Jean-Luc called over to Worf. “Are you coming with us, Lieutenant?”

“Thank you, Sir.  I think I will.”

On their return, Beverly was gleefully smiling and pulling the pile of dried beans towards her.  “Winning, my love?”

“Mm, yes.  Wesley needs a better poker face.  And for someone who can read people, Deanna isn’t very good at poker.”

“Hey!”

“It’s the truth, though!”  Deanna reached out and swatted Will for his comment. 

“Why the beans?”

“Well, we needed something to gamble with.  Since we can’t replicate poker chips, I rummaged in the kitchen and found dried kidney beans.” Beverly wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a a fan, but they make perfect betting chips.  Each bean is worth 5.  Grab a handful and join us.” 

“I think I just might.” 

“Query, how do you know who is winning if you just grab handfuls of beans?” 

“Ah, it’s just for fun, Data.  Grab some beans and join us. Worf, Geordi?  Are you in?” 

“The table’s getting mighty crowded....”  Deanna stood up. “Actually, Geordi, I was getting a little tired of playing. You can have my spot.”

“Thanks, Deanna.”  Deanna gave Jean-Luc a look and he sighed.  He leaned over close to Beverly’s ear and whispered, “you just had to tell her didn’t you?”  Beverly grinned up at him sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Counsellor, could I see you in the bedroom?” 

“Taking Deanna into our bedroom? Should I worry?”  Jean-Luc chuckled.  “Nothing for you to worry about, my love.”  He gave her a quick kiss.  “Won’t be long.” 

Jean-Luc picked up Beverly’s dressing gown off the one chair in the room and indicated for Deanna to sit in it while he sat on the edge of the bed.  “I’m sure Beverly told you about my dream?” 

Deanna nodded.  “She said you felt like it was a flashback as if the events really happened and not just a dream?”  He shook his head. “It was as if I was _there_.  I could smell the air thick with smoke, I could taste the gunpowder....but how was it possible?  And how did Beverly find the telegram telling her about Jack’s death _after_ my dream?”  He ran his hand across the back of his neck as he looked at Deanna imploringly.  She wished she had an answer for him.

“Sir, are you sure you didn’t see the telegram before bed and you forgot to mention it to Beverly? “ 

“I’m sure, Counsellor.”  Deanna frowned.  That would be the obvious answer.  “Beverly...Beverly thinks this is our actual reality and we somehow all dreamed about life on the _Enterprise_ , but I can’t believe that’s true....”

“No, I don’t think the _Enterprise_ is a dream.” 

“Could _this_ be a dream? What am I saying? If this _was_ a dream, I wouldn’t be questioning if it was a dream.”  Deanna grinned.  “I don’t think this is a dream, but it’s possible that whoever has put us all here is able to somehow control our dreams.”

“Has anyone else had a flashback dream?”

“Well....no. But we’ve only been here for two nights.” 

“Do you think we’re dealing with a strong telepath?”  Deanna shrugged. “I don’t know, Sir. I can’t sense any other presence in your mind or anyone else’s but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to control the mind-“  Jean-Luc cut her off. “The device the Ferengi had.  It would have been...oh about seven or eight years ago?  When they had the Stargazer?” 

“I remember, Sir.  But Bok’s been put in Jail again after the incident with Jason Vigo.”  Jean-Luc frowed.

“He got out once, what’s to say he didn’t escape again?” 

“But how did he get us all here?  We don’t even know if we’re still on the _Enterprise_ or actually brought back in time _._ ”

“Actually, we’re fairly certain we’re on a holodeck. We just don’t know if we’re still on the _Enterprise_.”

”I see.  Now, tell me about you and Beverly.”

“Do I have to?”

“No, but you two seem to have taken being married in stride.”  Jean-Luc grinned. “It’s like all my fantasies have come true. You know, I used to dream about being married to Beverly. After we were stuck on KesPrytt, I thought we would never get to the point of dating, let alone being married...and here we are.”

“Yes, here you are.  But you didn’t date.  _Or_ have a wedding.”  Jean-Luc frowned. “I know.  But perhaps once we’re back on the ship, we can pursue this further....”

“Further than pretending to be married?” 

“I...ahh...I don’t have an answer for you, Counsellor.  But I do love Beverly with all my heart.  And I’m pretty sure she loves me too.”

“I know.  And she does. It’s been quite obvious to me for years . I just don’t want you two to get settled into this idea of being married that you forget that you still have to pursue a relationship.”

“I understand, Deanna.  And, thanks.”

“Anytime, Captain.”

Jean-Luc and Deanna rejoined the rest of the senior staff who were crowded around the small dining table with Wesley. Beverly was taunting Will and Jean-Luc couldn’t help but grin. He loved her competitive side. 

“I raise you...six beans.”

“Six?  Big spender, Will.  I call.”  Will turned over his cards and Beverly giggled with glee. “Hah!  I win!” 

“Before we start another round, I’d like to talk to you about a few things.   Lieutenant Commander La Forge has detected  ultragammatechra rays, which are apparently only associated with holograms and holodecks.  He has suggested we go out tomorrow and try to find the parameters of this place by walking off in different directions and finding the walls.  I think I can get us a few Land Rovers to use, so I’d like us to form teams.  Beverly, Wes, and I will take one side. Number One, I’d like you to take another direction with the Counsellor.  Mr Data, Mister Worf,  a third direction.  And Mister La Forge, I’d like you and Lieutenant Barclay to take a fourth. “

“Cool. Hey dad, can I drive?”  Jean-Luc pursed his lips. “We’ll see.” 

“What do we do once we find the edge?”  Jean-Luc looked at Geordi. “Mister La Forge?”

“If we had a way to measure how far it was, that would be helpful.” 

“Once we reach the edges, we could time how long it takes to get back to the center and then based on the speedometer determine how far we’ve gone?”

“Excellent idea, Wes.” 

“Right. So we’ll meet back here at 0700. If you speak with any of the others before then, recruit them to join us. The more directions we can send people off in, the better.”  There were nods all around the table.   “The other thing I wanted to mention...I’m sure most of you have heard about my rather lucid dream last night.  Counsellor Troi and I have come to the conclusion that there might be some kind of mind control at play here – either a strong telepath projecting the dream into my mind or a device..like the orbs the Ferengi used on me once before.  If any of you have these kinds of lucid dreams, please let me know...Now, I do believe we have a poker game in progress....who’s deal?”

###

_“Engineering to  Bridge.”_

“Bridge here.”

_“Sir I’ve managed to get communications up and running.”_

“Excellent work, Lieutenant McDowell.  Can you try to restore the turbolifts next?”

“ _Yes, Sir. Engineering out.”_

Commander Trimble looked over at Lieutenant Wallace.  “Lieutenant,  Connect me to Admiral Nechayev at Command.”

“Yes, Sir.”  Commander Trimble sighed.  This was not a conversation he was looking forward to having.  How do you tell an Admiral that the entire senior staff was _lost_?

###

“Uh-Oh.”

“What is it, Plek?”

“I think they might suspect something.”

“Damn.  Send him the other dream. You know the one.  Is the boarding party ready?” 

“Ugroxac and Ratek are waiting for you.”

“Ratek?  That idiot?  Is that _really_ the best we can do?  I want to get revenge on Picard for what he’s done to my brother, not perform a circus act for him.”  Plek bowed his head. “I’m sorry, DaiMon,  It was the best I could do.”  DaiMon Zegg waved his hand. “Never mind. He’ll have to do.” 

###

  _The air was thick with the hum of airplanes and the twang of bullets hitting the metal hulls. Jean-Luc’s Hurricane had been hit and was spinning out of control. Just before he pressed his own eject button, he managed to steer his plane in the direction of his best friend, Jack Crusher and took off the rear section of Jack’s.  Jean-Luc pressed his eject button and hoped Jack didn’t have time to press his.  With Jack gone, he would be free to pursue Beverly Crusher, the object of his affection for the past ten years._

_Jean-Luc had landed somewhere in Kent.  He was met by two farmers who thought at first he might have been German, but his accent had quickly convinced the farmers he was with the RAF.  He scanned the skies for Jack’s parachute and watched as one of the Luftwaffe planes spotted him and blasted him with a machine gun.  Jean-Luc watched with concealed glee as Jack jerked around like a puppet with its strings broke, and Jean-Luc witnessed Jack’s body float to the ground.  He quickly commandeered a vehicle from the farmers and set off across the fields in a battered old tractor. He needed to see for himself that Jack was really dead._

_“What are yeh goin’ to do when yeh find him?  ‘E’s dead now.”  Jean-Luc looked at the friendly farmer. “I need to find out for sure before I inform Beverly,  his wife.  They have a little boy, Wesley.”  Jean-Luc’s eyes softened when he spoke about Beverly and Wesley._

_“Ah, have your eye on the lass, do yeh?  Best make sure her husband is dead first.”_

Jean-Luc bolted awake and jumped out of bed.  He ran into the toilet and was soon heaving up his dinner.  Beverly ran in after him and gently stroked his back.  “Jean-Luc, you’re all clammy.  Another dream?”  Jean-Luc heaved again and tears were streaming down his eyes.  “I killed Jack.”

“Jean-Luc, don’t be silly.”  Beverly wet a facecloth and ran it over Jean-Luc’s head in an effort to cool him down and noticed he was trembling.  She wrapped an arm across his back.  “Come back to bed and tell me about the dream.”

“Beverly, it wasn’t a dream.  It really happened.  I’m sure of it.”  Jean-Luc shakily began to rise to his feet and became dizzy causing him to struggle to stand.  Beverly wrapped an arm around his waist. “Come on.  Use me as a crutch.  I’ll get you back in bed and then make you a cup of tea.”

“I....I don’t deserve you.  I killed your husband....I killed Wesley’s father.” 

“Jean-Luc, you know it was an accident.”  Beverly helped Jean-Luc sit on the edge of the bed and she began to unbutton his pyjama top. “You’re soaked in sweat,” she offered as an explanation.  She tugged off his bottoms and then helped him swing his legs over onto the bed.  Once he was settled under the covers, she went into the kitchen to boil the kettle.  She wished she had access to the herbal teas she had programmed into the replicator, but a quick rummage in the cabinet revealed some dried camomile flowers.  She added the flowers to the teapot and then decided Jean-Luc might like some toast for his empty stomach.

 A few minutes later, she was carrying a tray into the bedroom with 2 cups, a teapot, and a plate with some toast on it.  Jean-Luc gratefully smiled at her.  “I found some camomile.  It’ll sooth you and help you go back to sleep.  And I thought you might want some toast for your stomach.”  She settled the tray across his lap before slipping into bed next to him.  She poured out their cups and after he had taken a few sips and nibbled at his toast, she breached the subject of his dream again. “Tell me what happened.”

“I told you, I killed Jack.”  Beverly shook her head. “You know that’s ridiculous.  Jack died in an accident...400 years in the future from now.  He volunteered to go outside the _Stargazer_ , remember?  This timeline isn’t real....”

“Isn’t it? Beverly....when my plane was shot down and I was starting to drift, I deliberately steered my plane into Jack’s and I hoped he didn’t eject.”  Beverly reached out a hand and stroked Jean-Luc’s cheek. “You know that didn’t happen, Jean-Luc.  This world isn’t real.  You’re being fed this dream by someone who wants to hurt you.” 

“I...I wanted him to die so I could be with you. “  Beverly shook her head. “I know that’s not true. That’s not the Jean-Luc I love.  The Jean-Luc I love stood up at my wedding and stayed silent even though his heart was breaking.  The Jean-Luc I love wept with me the night of Jack’s funeral and put Wesley to bed.  The Jean-Luc I love-“  Jean-Luc interrupted her and spoke quietly.  “Maybe I’m not that Jean-Luc.” 

“Jean-Luc, No.  You _are_ that Jean-Luc.  This was only a dream.”  Beverly removed the tray from Jean-Luc’s lap and put it on the floor.  “Come here. Let me hold you.”  Jean-Luc scooted closer to Beverly and she brought his head down to her shoulder.  He wrapped an arm around her waist and cried into her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Beverly. I’m sorry I killed Jack.  I’m sorry I lied about it to you...”  Beverly rubbed his back and softly sighed. “I told you. You didn’t kill Jack.  You didn’t lie.  What else can I do to prove this to you?” 

“Kiss me.” 

“Like you have to ask....”  Beverly lowered her head and gently kissed Jean-Luc, who deepened the kiss.  He slowly pulled off her nightgown and pressed kisses across her chest as she clutched his shoulders.  “Beverly, I love you.”  He kissed down her body and gently nudged her legs apart with his nose. “Please?  Let me do this...”  Beverly nodded and was soon lost to the feeling of Jean-Luc’s tongue. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fact checking (as in, asked the military history buff husband) tells me that even though the RAF would have had some Jeeps as surplus from WWII, by 1957 they probably had worn out and they would be driving Land Rovers. So, previous chapter edited to reflect this change *only*.

_“What do you mean you can’t find Captain Picard or Commander Riker?”_ The formidable image of Admiral Nechayev filled the screen on the bridge. Commander Trimble had never spoken with her before, and he could understand why some people were afraid of her.

“Uhm...I...I don’t know, Sir.  They’re all gone.  Captain Picard, Commander Riker, Doctor Crusher, Lieutenant Commanders Data and La Forge, Lieutenants Barclay and Worf, Ensign Crusher...and over a dozen other crewmen from various departments. We’re also missing Doctors Selar and Hill and almost all of Engineering, too.”

_“How long?”_

“Uhm...this is the third day, Sir.”

“ _Three days and you’re just now informing me?”_

“Our comms were down. The whole ship is running on emergency power right now.”

“ _I see. And you aren’t near any planets they might have beamed down to or been beamed down to?  No ships in the vicinity?  No missing shuttles?”_

“No, Sir. We already checked. There is nothing within beamable distance.”

_“For you, that is.  They could have been beamed off by an alien species with farther abilities than us.”_

“Who can do that, Sir?”

 _“I’m not sure....and you said the_ Enterprise _is disabled?”_

“Yes, Sir. It seems all the power is being routed to Deck 11 and we can’t figure out why.”

_“What’s on Deck 11, Commander?”_

“A cargo bay, three of the holodecks, a few labs, some civilian quarters...”

_“Is anyone in any of the holodecks?”_

“Well, that’s the funny thing, Sir. We can’t get to Holodeck 4J.  It has some sort of force field around it.”

_“A force field?”_

“Yes, Sir.”

 _“And...this didn’t lead you to think there might be something wrong there?”_ Admial Nechayev glared.

“Uh...No...Sir.  We were trying to get our communications up and running first...Sir” Trimble wiped his sweaty palms on his legs.  He felt about two inches tall for not looking into the holodeck problem when they first noticed it.

_“Commander... investigate the force field around the holodeck and try to access it by other means. Surely there’s an emergency access point somewhere. Check the ship’s schematics if no one knows where it is. I will be arriving as soon as I can to assume command in the Captain’s absence.”_

“Yes, Sir.”

 _“Nechayev out.”_   The screen went blank, and Commander Trimble heaved a sigh of relief. “Now, who do we have who can investigate the problem on Deck 11?”

###

“Hugh-mons are disgusting.  He put his mouth on her....I can’t even say it.”

“Say it.”

“He put his mouth where she urinates from.” 

“Oh gross!”

“Hugh-mons are sick!”

“But the woman seems to be enjoying it....”  Plek, Ugroyac, and Ratek heard DiaMon Zegg’s footsteps and quickly shut off the monitor before he saw. 

“Plek....report.  It _better_ be good this time...”  Plek looked at the ground.  “I’m sorry, DaiMon.  Even making him think he killed the other man didn’t break him.”

“Did he mate with the red-head again?”

“Uh....I guess that’s what they’re doing.”

“You guess?  Either they are or they aren’t!” 

“He has his mouth....on....places...the woman seems to be enjoying it, so it must be part of the hugh-mon mating ritual.”

“Damn it!  Well, then, I think it’s time we try this from a different angle. Let’s do something that will make the woman want to stay.  Perhaps she can use her wiles to convince him...”   Ratek glanced at a monitor.

“DiaMon, there’s a Federation ship headed here.”

“When?”

“Three days.”

“By then, we’ll be long gone with our prize.”

###

Jean-Luc woke up with Beverly’s lips on his.  “Mm, good morning.”

“Good morning.” 

“What time is it?” 

“Six.”

“Hmm.  I told everyone to meet us here at seven.”  Beverly kissed down Jean-Luc’s torso and swirled her tongue around his belly button.  “I bet we can be quick...”

30 minutes later, Beverly was laying in Jean-Luc’s arms.  “Told you we could be quick.”

“You are a minx, you know that?”  Jean-Luc leaned down to kiss her and palmed her breast, causing her to moan.

They heard knocking and then the door to their bungalow  opened. “Mom? Dad?”  Wesley heard his mother moan and coloured.  “Wes?  Is that you?”

 “Sorry...I thought we could have coffee together before everyone else gets here....but I can go outside....” 

“Don’t be silly.  Just, ah, give us a few minutes to get dressed.”

“I’ll just....be in the kitchen....” Wesley wandered into the kitchen and added water to the kettle to set it boiling while his parents got dressed. 

“I can’t believe he walked in on us.”

“Well, at least he had the sense to stay in the living room.”

“I wonder if he ever walked in on us when he was younger?”

“Beverly, we’ve only been together a few days.  This is the first time.”

“But..we got married when he was little.”  Jean-Luc sighed and kissed the top of her head. “Wasn’t it you who convinced me last night that this really _was_ a holodeck program?”

“Well, yes, but....”  Jean-Luc gave her another kiss. “I know this is hard on you, Beverly.  Trust me, I want nothing more than for us to have been together since Jack’s death, but the reality is...you know we haven’t.”

“I...I know.  I think.”  Beverly slowly got up and found her discarded nightgown.  “Come on, let’s have some breakfast with our son.”

“Your son.”

“Ours.  He’s calling you Dad.  And honestly, you’ve been like a father for him far longer than Jack was his actual father.”

Wesley was studying the photographs in the living room and picked one up to examine more closely.  It was him as a little boy with one hand being held by his mother and one  by Jean-Luc.  His mother was wearing a cream coloured suit with a large hat and holding flowers in her other hand, and Jean-Luc was wearing a dress uniform.  Wesley wondered if this was their wedding photo.  The next photo he picked up was smaller and showed him around age 7 or 8 holding a baby.  _Baby?  Do I have a sibling in this timeline? Where are they?_ He debated about mentioning this to his mother, and decided against it. He slid the photo frame behind a framed picture of his deceased father and decided to tell Jean-Luc first. 

“Morning, Wesley. Sorry you caught us in bed!”  Wesley merely rolled his eyes at his mother. No doubt this wasn’t going to be the first time if they were going to stay together once they got out of here.  “I put the kettle on.  I wasn’t sure how to make coffee.”

“Good lad,” Jean-Luc emerged in a faded brown dressing gown covering his pyjamas.  “Here, I’ll show you.”

Jean-Luc showed Wesley how to set up the percolator and Wesley grinned. “How do you know this, Dad?  We couldn’t figure it out, not even Data knew.”

“My father was a technophobe.  We had a computer and that was it. No replicators, no modern appliances. If we wanted coffee, this is how we had to make it, though we did later get a French Press.” 

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow.  Your mother was raised much the same on Caldos. Didn’t you know?”  Wesley shook his head.  His mother didn’t talk about her past much, and he assumed she didn’t want to so had never asked.

“Dad?  I need to tell you something...but when Mom is in the shower, alright?”  Jean-Lu raised his eyebrows. “Sure.”

They carried the percolator and the tea pot to the table where Beverly had set out some cups and a small bottle of milk.  “Hey Mom, Dad, I think I found your wedding photo.  Look!”  Wesley picked up the large photo he had been studying earlier. 

“I never bothered looking at the pictures. I just assumed they belonged to...well, whoever lives here.”

“Bev, my love, _we_ live here.”  She smiled at Jean-Luc while she studied the photo.  “One year.”

“What?”

“We waited one year.  Wes looks to be around six in this photo.”  Jean-Luc took the frame from Beverly and grinned. “You look beautiful.  I recognize that suit, don’t you?”  Beverly studied the photo.  “It’s the suit I wore when we came into your Dixon Hill holonovel.” 

“If I didn’t mention it then, you looked breathtaking.”  Beverly blushed.  “But how did this picture get here?”

“Part of the hologram, I assume. If we’re still on the _Enterprise_ , the computer probably had record of your suit...and if you look closely at me, I appear to be wearing an old Starfleet uniform just with some of the insignias changed to make it look like the RAF.”  Beverly squinted at the photo. “Oh yeah, I can see it now.”

Jean-Luc wrapped an arm around Beverly.  “If only I had come to you a year after Jack died.  I’m sorry I was so foolish.” 

“You’re here now.” 

“That I am, my love.”  He pressed a kiss to her forehead.  “I wonder what other clues to our ‘past’ we might find here?” 

“Ah Mom, why don’t you shower?  Dad and I will look around and let you know if we find anything.”

“Hm.  Sounds like you want to talk to Jean-Luc without me.  It wouldn’t be about this young lady you are taking out tonight, is it?”  Wesley forced himself to blush and look at the floor.  “Right then. I’ll just go and get ready.” 

When the bathroom door closed behind Beverly, Wesley reached behind the picture of Jack to retrieve the smaller one.  “Dad...I found this.  Do you think I have a sibling?” 

Jean-Lu stared at the photograph.  Wesley was clad in a pair of knickerbockers and shiny black shoes and in his arms was a baby dressed in a long white gown.  “This looks like a christening photograph. I would say there is a strong possibility that you are holding your sibling...but why aren’t they with us? Wes, we can’t tell your mother.  She already is having a hard time believing this world isn’t our real one and if I tell her we have a child...”

“Mom won’t want to leave.”

“Exactly. Look, hide this picture and make sure there aren’t any others.  I need to get dressed, too.”

###

“Damnit! The kid found the photo first and Picard decided to hide it.  We’re going to have to take more drastic measures...”

###

Jean-Luc emerged from the vehicle requisition office with a bunch of keys dangling in his hand. “Turns out, that was easy.  Myself, Will, and Worf already had vehicles assigned to us, and it was easy to get a fourth.  Right, does everyone know how to drive?”  Will nodded, but Worf and Reg both shook their heads.  “Hmm. Mister Data, do you know how to drive?”

“I  am sure I have a program program for it.” 

“Excellent. Mister Barclay, you don’t know how to drive?”

“N-no, Sir.” 

“Reg, it’s not going to be that different from driving the forklifts around in the cargo bays.” 

“Are you sure, Geordi?”

“Positive.”  Jean-Luc nodded and passed out the keys.  “Right. So, we know what to do. Drive as far as you can until you find a wall.  Then, turn around and time how long it takes you to get back to the center of the base...which should be the flagpole over there. Mister La Forge, once Mister Barclay informs you you are away from the populated areas, I see no reason why you shouldn’t put back on your VISOR. After all, you probably have a better chance at finding the wall with it.”  Geordi nodded.  It would be a relief to be able to see again. He hated when he wasn’t wearing it, and he was sure his friends didn’t enjoy looking at his white eyes, either.

“Jean-Luc, I had planned on running some blood tests today to determine what kind of air we had been exposed to. Do you think we still need to?”

“I think we’re fairly positive we are in a holodeck, but it would be good to know if we were still on the _Enterprise_ , so why don’t you do that this afternoon.  Who did you need samples from?”

“I was just going to test Deanna, Selar, and myself so I would have a human, a half-human, and an alien.” 

“Won’t Selar’s green blood draw attention to her?” 

“Not if we are in a private room when I extract the blood. I can say I mixed the blood with a chemical that turned it green.”  Jean-Luc nodded. “When we get back, you and Counsellor Troi should go to the infirmary.  Right then, are we ready?” 

“Dad, can I drive?”

“Wes, do you know how to drive?”

“Er...no. But can you teach me?”   Jean-Luc exchanged a glance with Beverly, who nodded. “Alright. I will teach you how to drive and you can drive until we find the wall, but I’m going to drive us back since we would need to maintain a constant speed.” Wesley’s eyes lit up. “Thanks, Dad!” He grabbed the keys and walked towards the Land Rover.  Jean-Luc suppressed his laugh when he saw Wesley open and sit on the left-hand side, get out and walk around to the right.  “What just happened?”

“Oh, Wesley just learned that British vehicles have the driver on the right side, not the left.”  Beverly glanced around and saw that everyone was having a similar problem and she laughed. “I’m sorry, this is kind of funny. Especially when Geordi was sitting in the driver’s seat.  I mean, can you imagine what kind of looks a blind man driving would get?”  Jean-Luc chuckled.  “Do you still want to come along? You could stay here if you didn’t want to witness Wesley’s driving lesson.”

“Oh no, I think I’d like to watch.”  Jean-Luc rolled his eyes and opened the backdoor of the Land Rover for his wife before getting in the front passenger seat.  The Land Rover was a manual transmission, and Jean-Luc grimaced.  This could take a while. 

“Ok, Wesley.  How many pedals are at your feet?”

“Uh...three.” 

“Ok. The pedal on the right is the accelerator, the middle is the brake, and the left is the clutch.  It’s very important that you don’t mix these pedals up.  I would keep your left foot near but not on the clutch, and use your right for the other two.”

“Ok...”

“And the most important thing about the clutch is don’t be afraid to push it all the way to the floor.  If you don’t, you won’t shift gears properly.” 

“Shift gears? The car doesn’t do it for you?”  Jean-Luc shook his head. “Not on a manual transmission, Wes.  Right, why don’t you start it?”  Wesley grinned and turned the key, but nothing happened.  “Dad?”

“Ok, let me tell you about the gear stick.  Do you see this stick with the ball between us?”  Wes nodded. “This is how you change gears.  Notice the numbers and the letter R?  The R stands for reverse and the numbers are the gear changes.  You need to be in first gear to start the car, and anytime you need to start from stopping.  Second gear is for low speeds, probably the only other gear we’ll need today.” 

“Ok. So....how do I change gears?” Jean-Luc beamed. “Great question.  That’s when you’ll use the clutch.  Push the clutch to the floor and move the stick to the gear you want, then release the clutch.”

“Ok. Got it. So...how do I start it?”

“Press down on the clutch and make sure the car is in first.  Now turn the key and release the hand brake...oh, sorry, this other stick between us is the hand brake. Gently let the car start to roll with a little gas....now quickly press the clutch and change into second.”  Wesley thought he followed the instructions, but the car ground to a halt and turned off.  “What did I do?”

“You stalled.  Never mind, its’ fine.  Try again.”  It took Wesley three times before he successfully got the vehicle to move. “Hmm. You know, it might be worth it when we’re back to run the driving instruction holodeck program to get some training from a real instructor.”

“I guess.  But you taught me how to fly a shuttle.”  Jean-Luc grinned at the memory.  Beverly had been livid with him for teaching a sixteen-year-old boy how to fly a shuttle, but Jean-Luc had said it was part of his training...when truthfully, Jean-Luc had just wanted an excuse to spend time with the boy who had reminded him so much of his deceased best friend. 

“Right, now keep going and I guess we’ll stop when we find something interesting.”

“Got it.”

###

“Geordi, we’re out in the open, you can put on your VISOR again.”

“Ah, thanks Reg.  I hate  being blind.”  Geordi clicked his VISOR into place and looked ahead scanning the horizon. After about twenty minutes, he noticed the shape of the waves changing. “The waves are getting closer together, Reg. I think we’re getting close to a wall. How long have we been driving for?”

“About forty minutes.” 

“Not bad.  Keep going, but slow down a bit. We don’t want to crash into the wall.” 

###

Worf was wishing he hadn’t been assigned to ride with Data.  Not that he didn’t like the android, but he never knew when to shut up!  Worf tried glaring at the android, but of course Data wasn’t looking at him.  “And I can see the ultragammatechra rays are getting closer together.”

“Perhaps I should drive.”

“It is not necessary.  I am able to devote part of my processor to driving as well as monitoring the ultragammatechra waves.”  Worf rolled his eyes and checked the clock.  They had been driving for forty-five minutes.  It was going to be a long day....

###

Deanna was laughing at Will’s antics. “Will Riker, if the Captain saw you, he would be appalled.” 

“I know, but this is fun.  It’s been years since I got to drive out in open land.  Not since I lived in Alaska.” 

“Right, but we have a job to do.” 

“I suppose you’re right.  Hey, how will we know if we ge to the end? Do you think we’ll just smack into the wall?” 

“Maybe you better slow down in that case.” 

###

“Wesley, are visual details starting to fade a bit?”  Wesley looked over at Jean-Luc and lifted his foot off the accelerator, causing the vehicle to slow down.  By the time he realised what he had done, he had stalled again.  “What?”

“Stop for a minute and look at the surroundings.  The details are...less refined.”  Beverly opened her door and got out of the Land Rover and started walking ahead and called over her shoulder, “The trees seem to just...end.  Jean-Luc, I need something to throw.”  Jean-Luc rummaged around in the glove box and came up with a torch.  After instructing Wesley how to put the Landy in park, they both got out to join Beverly.  Jean-Luc passed her the torch.  “All I could find.” 

“It’s a bit big.”  Beverly unscrewed the top. “Ah, batteries. Perfect.”  She tipped out the batteries and hefted one towards the empty space.  The battery appeared to bounce and the wall briefly turned black and yellow.  “Gentlemen, I think we found our wall.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for anything medical/biological that might not be accurate.

Jean-Luc rummaged in the back of the Land Rover and found some paint.  “Here, let’s see if we can paint a mark on the wall to find it easier again.”  Wesley took the paint and painted a bright red X across the wall, then painted a straight line for about 20 feet in either direction.  “That should be enough of a marker.”

They got back in the vehicle, this time with Jean-Luc driving and he turned the Landy around and slowly backed up until he just pressed the back bumper against the wall.  “Alright, Wes.  Note the time we’re starting and keep your eye on the Speedometer.  I’ll try to keep it at a steady twenty.”

An hour and half later, they were the first to arrive back at the centre flag pole.  “Ok, Wesley, what’s our estimate?” 

“About thirty miles, give or take.” 

“That’s pretty large for the holodeck, but I guess if it can simulate a marathon course for me, it could do something larger.”  Beverly grinned.

“Dad, you run marathons?” 

“Jean-Luc won a marathon once, didn’t you?”

“It was...a long time ago.  Now I just use them for training about once a month.”   Jean-Luc tried to dismiss Beverly’s comments.  “When did you compete?”

“Ah, Wesley...I was a freshman.  I was the only freshman to ever win the marathon, alright?  I don’t think anyone my age has done it since.” 

“Huh, I know they still do the marathon, but I didn’t know you were the youngest winner.” 

“Well, now you know, Wes. Can we change the subject please?  I’m not a fan of talking about my exploits as a cadet.” 

“Mm, the stories Walker used to tell....” Beverly grinned at her husband and son.  “What kind of stories will your friends have to tell your prospective wife, Wes?” 

“Wife?  Mom...I’m only twenty-two.”

“Your father and I got married when I was twenty-four.” 

“Yeah, but he was older. Like, way older.”  Jean-Luc glared at his step-son “ _Wesley_!  Your father and I were the same age!”  Wesley hung his head. “Ooops. Sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean it like that.” 

Wesley was saved by the arrival of Geordi and Reg.  Geordi had once again removed his VISOR.  Beverly rummaged in her handbag and found a large pair of sunglasses she passed to Geordi.  “See if you can fit these on top of your VISOR so you can still wear it.”

“Hey, thanks, Doc.”  Geordi replaced his VISOR and balanced the sunglasses on his nose. “How do I look?”

“Silly, but I can’t see the VISOR, so at least that worked.” Jean-Luc grinned at Beverly. “Are we done playing dress-up Geordi?”

“Yes.”

“Fantastic. So, how far away was your wall?”  Geordi turned to Reg, who had a piece of paper and a pencil in his hand. “About.....thirty-five miles.” 

“Ours was around thirty. Did you go exactly opposite to us?”  Reg nodded.  “So, the area has an approximate diameter of sixty-five miles?” Geordi whistled. “I didn’t know our holodeck could contain something this large.” 

“Do you think this means we were transported elsewhere?” 

“Well...it’s possible if whoever did this managed to boost the power to the holodeck reactor...but you’d have to drain the ship of most of its energy.”

“You mean, the _Enterprise_ would be dead in space?”  Geordi nodded at his Captain. “That’s the long and short of it, Sir.” Jean-Luc paled.  “We need to figure out a way out of here...or at least a way to communicate with the ship. Geordi, while we wait for the others, can you make me a list of what you think you might need to make a communication device?”

“Sure thing, Captain.  You know, since we found my VISOR, I’m wondering if we might find at least one of our badges somewhere....” 

“It’s a nice thought, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”  Geordi nodded and headed back to the vehicle he and Reg were using in search of paper to make his list on.   Beverly leaned back against Jean-Luc, and his arms circled her waist. “Are you alright, love?”

“Feeling a little useless.” 

“Useless? Bev, you found the wall. I’d say that’s pretty use _ful_.”  He dipped his head to kiss her ear.  “I suppose. But now everything that needs to be done is all engineering related, there’s nothing I can do.”  Jean-Luc frowned ad turned her towards him. “I thought you were going to test your blood to see if you could determine if this was the _Enterprise_?”

“I can do that.  Walk me to the infirmary?”  Jean-Luc turned towards Wesley.  “Wes, I’m going to walk with your mother to the infirmary.  Wait here with Geordie and Reg for the rest of our team and I’ll be back.  When Deanna gets here, tell her to meet Beverly at the infirmary.  Wesley nodded. “You got it, Dad.”

Beverly slipped her hand into Jean-Luc’s as they walked across the base.  “I hate to say it, but I almost like it here.” 

“You do?” Beverly nodded. “Sure.  I mean, we’re married and making a home for ourselves in our little RAF supplied bungalow....it’s nice going to bed in your arms....it’s nice being married to you.”  She gave his hand a squeeze.

“Beverly?  When we get back...do you want to move in with me?  We can make our home just as easily there as we are here.”  Beverly thought for a minute. “That would be nice.  But back there, you’re the Captain of the ship, I’m the Chief Medical Officer....here you’re just _a_ Captain and I’m a nurse. There’s less...responsibility. More time for us.”  Jean-Luc stopped walking and pulled Beverly around to look at him.  He rested his hands on her hips and looked into her eyes. “Beverly, I love you.  I will _always_ make time for you.  I promise.”  He leaned forward and kissed her.  She returned the kiss.  “But we’re married here.  I like that.” 

“Beverly...do you want to get married?  Wouldn’t it be...a little abrupt?  We’ve not even dated....not really.”

“Jean-Luc, we’ve been going on dates for seventeen years.”  Jean-Luc reflected on her comment and grinned. “I suppose we have.”

“So we can get married?” 

“We can get married, Doctor Picard.”

###

“You know, Geordi, looking for some of our equipment isn’t a bad idea.  I know Dad thinks it’s futile, but if that girl found your visor behind the bungalows, maybe some of our stuff is around here too.”

“When Data’s back we should ask him if he can adjust his sensors to detect the metal our badges are made from.  I could do it with my VISOR, but I’d need my lab to do it.” 

“I know Mom would feel better if she had her tricorder.”

Deanna and Will rolled up.  “Geordi, Wes. Wes, where’s the Captain and your mother?”

“Dad walked Mom to the infirmary.  Counsellor Troi, Mom said you should meet her there so she can run those blood tests.”  Deanna shuddered.  “Great.  Your mom is going to stick me with a primitive needle and draw blood.  I wish we were home.” 

“Don’t we all, Deanna. Don’t we all,”  Will watched Deana walk away towards the infirmary. “ So, what have you found out so far?”

“Not much. Mom found our wall and we painted a big line on it to find later.  We were about thirty miles away.” 

“Painting it was a good idea, wish I had thought of it.  Well, it took us almost two hours to get back, and I was driving at around ten, so does that mean our side was twenty miles? Math was never my strong suit.”  Will grinned at Wesley.  “That sounds right.  Let’s go tell Reg. He’s working on the calculations.”

“Reg is?”

“Uh-huh. You know, Commander, I don’t think we gave him a decent chance before because of his holodeck problem.”  Will clasped Wesley on the shoulder. “Channelling your step-father?”

“Something like that. “

They waited another half hour for Data and Worf to return.  Data had, naturally, calculated their distance out to the exact tenth of a mile – 42.68, but they decided to round it up to 43. This meant the flagpole wasn’t in the center of the base as they thought it had...and it also meant they were dealing with a _very_ large area. Geordi couldn’t believe they had been able to go in all four directions for that far of a distance and now felt sure that if they were on the _Enterprise_ , something was very wrong.

###

“Do you want a blood sample from me?” 

“You’re offering to be a medical subject?”  Beverly’s mouth hung open. “You know, I only protest about being in Sickbay because I’d rather be working, but I actually always liked it when you paid me attention.” 

“Oh you.” Beverly opened up her kit and pulled out the tourniquet, needle, and a glass flask. “Hmm. It’s been a while since I had to do one of these...could I...practice on you before I have to do it to Deanna?”  Jean-Luc made a face, but shrugged out of his jacket and held out his arm.  “Go ahead.” 

“Hmm. I need to find something to clean your arm with...and this needle. _Ew_.” 

“You could try fire. For the needle. Not my arm...” Beverly laughed.  “I think there’s some alcohol around here to use on your arm.  I just need a lighter for this needle.”  Jean-Luc dug around in his pocket and Beverly shot him a look. He shrugged. “Everyone seems to smoke, so carrying a lighter helps.”

“As long as you don’t start smoking. I mean, we basically eliminated smoking and its associated diseases and I would hate to have to try to research lung disease when we get back.” Jean-Luc grinned. “Good to know you care.” 

“Hmm. “  Beverly left Jean-Luc to pilfer in the Doctor’s offices for some alcohol she knew they must have stashed there.  She came back with a bottle of whisky and Doctor Selar.  “Right.  This will have to do.”  She passed the needle through the flame from the lighter and used the whisky to clean a patch of Jean-Luc’s skin.  She tightened the tourniquet around his arm and grinned “This’ll only pinch a little.”  She added “I hope,” under her breath and Jean-Luc grimaced.  “Maybe I could drink some of that whisky first?” 

“Don’t make me laugh while I’m trying to stick a needle in you!”  Beverly soon found his vein and his blood was flowing through the rubber tube into the vial.  “Ok, I think that’s enough.”  Beverly gently pulled the needle out and covered his arm with a bandage. “Don’t I get a kiss, too?”  Beverly gave him a quick peck and Doctor Selar pretended to look away. 

“Hmm, I suppose if I have your human blood I don’t need to do my own.” Jean-Luc shook his head. “Why do I feel like I’ve just been tricked?”  Beverly laughed.  “No, I really  _did_ need to practice before doing Deanna. Right, Selar, swap places with Jean-Luc, please.”

Taking the Vulcan’s blood was easier now that Beverly had done it once and sure enough, Doctor Selar’s blood was still the bright green of a Vulcan.  Beverly sighed happily and pocketed the vial.  “Don’t want anyone to see this. Now I just need Deanna...oh, Dee. There you are.  Come on over.  I’ve done Jean-Luc and Selar. You’re last.”

“You get a kiss for the pain.”

“I’ll pass, thanks. Thought you were testing your own blood, not the Captain’s?”

“She needed to practice on me. Hadn’t done this in a while....”  he trailed off as he saw the look Deanna shot Beverly.  “You have done this recently, haven’t you?”

“Maaaybe.”

“You’ll pay for that little deception later.”

Beverly soon had three vials of blood in her pocket.  “I’ve asked Doctor Hill to secure one of the labs for me so I can examine this. Strictly speaking, I’m just a nurse and shouldn’t know what I’m doing.  Do you want to come along?  I can show you what I’m talking about.”

“If you think I’d understand.” 

“Well, I think Doctor..I mean Nurse Selar and I need to get back to the ward.  We’ll see you tonight at the usual time?”

“Yes.  We’ll meet at 1900 again.” 

Jean-Luc followed Beverly into the lab. “So tell me what you’re looking for?” 

“Our blood develops markers for where we’ve been. For example, the sterile air of the ship or planetside.”

“I see. So you couldn’t use your blood anyway since you went on an away mission last week?” 

“Well, I could have,” she sheepishly grinned, “But it’s easier if it’s from three people who haven’t left the ship.  I’ll test yours first.”  Beverly poured a few drops onto a slide and slid it into the microscope.  “Fascinating.  Jean-Luc, do you want to see?”  Jean-Luc looked into the microscope and then looked over at Beverly. “I’m sorry, it just looks like a blob.” 

“That’s alright.  The important thing is, I can tell from the oxygenation of your blood you haven’t left the _Enterprise._ ”

“Specifically the _Enterprise?_ Or could we be just on another ship.”

“The _Enterprise._ ”  Jean-Luc spun her around. “Well, that’s fantastic news, Beverly!”  He kissed her. 

“Let me just check Selar’s and Deanna’s to make sure I didn’t make a mistake.”  Jean-Luc nodded. “Do you want me to stay?” She shook her head. “You don’t have to.  Really, I just figured you would want to know right away if we were still on the ship or not.”  He leaned over and kissed her again. “I’m going to find the others. See you back home.”

###

Geordi handed Jean-Luc a list.  “You need all of this?”

“I’m sorry, Sir. We tried to keep it small.  I think we can bodge something together, but Wesley thinks we might have a chance at finding a comm badge or a tricorder since we found my VISOR.”

“Hmm.  How does Wesley propose we look?”

“We use Data.  He can modify his parameters to detect the minute amount of Latinum in our badges and tricorders.  Of course, Latinum doesn’t exist on Earth or in the 1950s, so...”

“If he detects any, he’s found our equipment,”  Jean-Luc grinned at his Chief Engineer.  “One more thing, Mister La Forge.  Beverly tested the blood. We _are_ still on the _Enterprise._ ”

“Well, that’s good news. If we can somehow punch through we should be able to patch ourselves into the comm system and reach someone on the ship....assuming there is anyone running the ship.” Jean-Luc was thin lipped. “I agree.  There is a distinct possibility our ship is entirely dead in space and the remaining crew is incapacitated.  But why the people who are here?  I can understand the senior staff, but we have some Ensigns from Stellar Cartography here.”

“I’ve been puzzling over that myself, Sir. I assume my entire team is here because if any of them were outside the holodeck, they would be able to fix anything.  Could the Stellar Cartography  Enigns have other skills?  But why all the ship’s doctors and none of the nurses? None of it adds up.”

“No, it doesn’t, does it?  I am assuming the reason we have so few non-humans in our group was because they wouldn’t blend in if this was time travel, but being on the holodeck, it doesn’t make sense.” Jean-Luc shrugged his shoulders. “Right. Let’s see if we can find these items for you and let’s have Mister Data try to scan for Latinum.

###

“Any luck?” 

 _“No, Sir. Sorry.  This force field covers the holodeck on all sides.  It’s a shame we don’t have Wesley with us, Sir. He’s pretty good with force fields.”_   Commander Trimble sighed.  “Yes, but Wesley is missing. Surely we have someone else around here who understands force fields.”

_“We do.  But they’re all missing.  I’m doing the best I can, Sir. But I’m only one person and Engineering is a huge department.  I only have a few Ensigns down here, and none of them understand force fields.”_

“I understand. But Admiral Nechayev expects us to be able to tell her _something_.  Trimble out.”   He sighed once more and turned to Lieutenant Commader Fukai.  “Any ideas?  I really don’t know what to do...I’m not cut out for command.”

“You’re doing fine, John.  The  best anyone throw into this could possibly do.”  She thought a minute. “Hey, what about Data?  Shouldn’t we be able to somehow contact him through the computer?”  Trimble shook his head. “I don’t know, Arlene.  But I guess you should try...see if you can get him a message.  Wherever he is, maybe he can tell us if Captain Picard is with him.”

###

Beverly entered the bungalow she and Jean-Luc shared and picked up the post that had been shoved through the letter slot.  There wasn’t much to it, but there was a handwritten envelope addressed to “Mr and Mrs Jean-Luc Picard”, so she sliced it open with a letter opener she spotted on the desk.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

Beverly gasped, but continued to read the letter.

_Mom, I know you worry if I don’t write at least once per week so I wanted to tell you that my life is incredibly boring.  Nothing but classes and preparations for the end of year exams. I can’t wait for school to be over.  Will you and Dad be able to pick me up? School gets out on the 14 th.  I hope I get to see Wesley too.  He hasn’t written to me in ages and I kinda miss him.  I had to share my last care package with my dormmates, Mom.  They all loved your biscuits, so thanks.  The school is still on rationing for some reason even though it’s been four years!  I think the Headmistress is just being mean.  _

_I ripped my pink dress.  I’m sorry.  Will you fix it for me when I’m home this summer?_

_I love you and Dad._

_Love,_

_Clara_

Beverly sunk to the floor, sobbing.  _I have a daughter._ We _have a daughter._


	7. Chapter 7

When Jean-Luc came home, he found Beverly slumped on the floor, sobbing and clutching a piece of paper.  He approached her slowly and sank to the floor with her.  “Beverly?”  Beverly looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. “Beverly, what happened?  Are you alright?”

“Jean-Luc...we...we...we have a daughter.” _Merde. She found out._ Jean-Luc gathered Beverly into his arms and she sobbed against his chest.  “She’s away at boarding school and her roommates liked my biscuits and she wants us to pick her up on the fourteenth and she wants me to fix her pink dress.”  Beverly let out a wail.  “Her name is Clara.”  Beverly passed him the letter. 

“Shhh...Beverly, my love.  Remember, this isn’t real. This is a holodeck simulation. Remember?  You tested my blood and it showed we were still on the _Enterprise_.  You found the wall and threw a battery at it.”  Beverly sniffed.  “I love the name Clara.”   Jean-Luc gently rocked Beverly. “I know you do, my love. You told me it was one of the names you were considering when you were pregnant with Wesley.”  _But...how was that known?  Beverly wrote it to me in a letter over twenty-two years ago...I suppose it was still somewhere in my correspondence._  

“Jean-Luc, we can’t leave her here.” 

“Beverly. We can’t take her with us. You know that.  Holographic people don’t exist outside of the holodeck.” 

“Then I’m not leaving!”  Jean-Luc sighed and softly kissed Beverly’s forehead.  “My love, you have to. When we are able to leave...you need to come with me.  Please?  I don’t want to,” Jean-Luc swallowed his own tears, “I don’t want to have to live without you.”  He kissed her lips.  “Please, my love.”  Beverly clutched at his hand.

“We could both stay.” 

“Beverly, you know we can’t.  This is a holodeck.  I’m the ship’s Captain. You’re the CMO.  And you know what happened to Barclay when he became addicted to his holodeck programmes.”  Beverly sighed. “I know.  But....Jean-Luc...she’s...she’s _ours_.  She’s our flesh and blood...our DNA....”  Jean-Luc shook his head. “She’s not, Bev. She is a holographic projection.  No flesh, no blood. No DNA.”  Jean-Luc gently stroked her hair.  “I’m so sorry you found out.”  Beverly pulled away from him. 

“You knew?”

“Err....Wesley found a photograph this morning....”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“For exactly this reason, Beverly. I knew you were already having problems with if this was our reality or not and I didn’t want...I didn’t want to upset you.  I’m sorry.  I should have told you.  Forgive me?”

“Show me the picture.”  Jean-Luc untangled himself from Beverly and slowly rose to his knees and reached behind the photo of Jack.  He handed the small frame to her and Beverly started to sob again. “Look at my baby!  Wesley must have been seven or eight...she’s probably fifteen.  Jean-Luc...look at our baby.” 

“I know, my love. I know. Do you...do you want to have a baby?” 

“To replace Clara?”

“No, my love.  No one will ever replace Clara.  Just like Mirabel and Batai are always a part of me, Clara will always be a part of us.” 

“Promise?” 

“Yes, my love.  I promise.”

“Can we...keep her picture?”  Jean-Luc started to shake his head, the changed his mind. Would it really help Beverly to have this picture?  The holodeck always had a record of previous sessions, and it was possible Data could create a copy if he looked at the photo....but would it be a help or a hindrance?  He needed to talk to Deanna. 

“Beverly, I think you should talk to Deanna tonight.” 

“I don’t need a psychologist. I’m not crazy.”  Jean-Luc stroked her hair.  “I know, my love, but she is your best friend and she might know exactly how you are feeling...remember Ian?”  Beverly shook her head. “I was away at Medical when she had Ian, remember?”  Jean-Luc chuckled. “Worst year of my life.” 

“I never should have left.”  Beverly kissed Jean-Luc.  “Jean-Luc....could we...see Clara before we go?  I just want to be able to give her a hug.” 

“I...I don’t know if that would be wise, Beverly.” 

“You’re probably right.  Can you...can you call Deanna?”

“I can try, my love.  Would you like some tea?” She nodded.  Jean-Luc rose and picked Beverly up and carried her into their bedroom.  “Jean-Luc what are you doing?” 

“Carrying you to bed, my love.  Why don’t you get comfortable and I’ll get you some tea.”  Beverly smiled slightly. “When will everyone be over?”

“Not for three hours. Will you be alright while I boil the kettle?”  Beverly nodded.

When Jean-Luc returned, he chuckled.  Beverly had changed into his pyjama top and was sound asleep.  Jean-Luc placed her tea on the bedside table before he took off his jacket and shoes and climbed onto the bed next to Beverly. He pulled her into his arms and held her while she slept.

###

Deanna softly knocked before entering the bungalow.  Jean-Luc came out of the bedroom, barefoot and just wearing a T-shirt with his trousers. “Beverly’s sleeping, but thank you for coming over. I think she needs a friend.”

“What happened, Captain?”

“This morning, Wesley found a fabricated photograph that indicated Beverly and I had a child.  Wes and I hid the photo, but this afternoon, Beverly received a letter from our daughter, Clara.  She....isn’t taking it well.  She talked about staying in the hologram to be with Clara.  She wants us to take a photograph of Clara with us when we leave, but is that wise?  Won’t it just...upset her?” 

“Or it could be therapeutic.  Do you know if there are any other photographs?”  Jean-Luc shook his head.  “I haven’t looked.  But a few things bother me about all of this, Deanna.  We’ve established that we are definitely on the holodeck on the _Enterprise_ , and yet I’ve had two dreams that felt more like memories of when Jack died, and now Beverly and I have a child...and her name is Clara...Deanna,” Jean-Luc lowered his voice to not wake Beverly, “Clara was one of the names Beverly had considered for Wesley.  She told me in a letter twenty-two years ago. And the photographs?  How are they of us?  I mean, this is a really sophisticated holodeck program...”

“If there _is_ a mind control device at work, it might be able to read your thoughts as well...have you and Beverly talked about having a baby?”

“No. Well...only after Beverly found out about Clara.  But I would be lying if it wasn’t something I often thought about.  Marrying Beverly...having a baby with Beverly...I told you.  This place is almost like all my hopes and dreams with Beverly fulfilled in one. “

“And you don’t think that’s strange?”

“Of course it’s strange!  Counsellor...Deanna, what is going on?”

“I don’t know, Sir.” 

From the bedroom, Beverly called out “Jean-Luc?”

“I’m here, love.  Deanna came over. Would you like to talk to her?”

“Ok.”  Jean-Luc led Deanna into the bedroom and picked up the now cold cup of tea.  “I’ll make you two a pot of tea.”  He gently closed the door behind him and hoped Deanna would be able to help Beverly.

“The Captain told me the holoprogram created a daughter?”  Deanna sat down on the edge of the bed next to Beverly.  She nodded. “Clara. Her name is Clara.” 

“Clara.  And....do you know anything about her?”  Beverly shook her head.  “Only what she wrote in her letter. She’s at boarding school.  I think she’s probably fifteen...we found a photo of her and Wesley when she was a baby and Wes looks like he’s eight.” 

“Beverly...she’s not at boarding school.  She doesn’t actually exist.”    Beverly’s eyes blazed. “I think I know that.  But....Jean-Luc and I could have had a daughter...”

“Is that what has you so upset? That you and the Captain didn’t get together sooner?”

“Deanna, if I had known how he felt after Jack died...I would have...well, I don’t know what I would have done differently.” 

“But you never told him how you felt either, did you?”  Beverly shook her head.  “I was so afraid I would lose my best friend.  But when I think about what we lost...Clara could have been real.” 

“Beverly, you can’t go back and change the past. I know in this...whatever we are in...you and the Captain married a long time ago and were able to have a daughter...but this isn’t real.  What’s real is your new relationship with the Captain. And, you know, you could have a baby now with the Captain.”

“That’s what Jean-Luc said. He asked me if I wanted a baby...I didn’t actually answer him.” Deanna looked at her friend. “Well, what do you want, Beverly?”

“I want to be with Jean-Luc.  And I think I want to have a baby with him.” 

“You should probably tell him.  Look, I know you have only been together a few days and it was because of coming here, but I think most of us have been expecting it for the past eight years...probably even longer if we had known you before.”  Beverly smiled. “Jean-Luc and I have been casually dating for almost eighteen years.” 

“Well, there you go.”  Jean-Luc lightly tapped on the door and brought in two cups of tea. “Captain...why don’t you have the tea.  I think I’ll leave you two alone to talk.  Do you want Will to run the meeting at our place?”

“Thank you. I think that would be a good idea.  Wesley will be missing as well, there’s that dance tonight he has to take the girl who had Geordi’s VISOR to.  Just have everyone give updates and make sure everyone knows what we discovered today...and start looking for a mind control device.” 

“Of course, Sir.  Beverly, I’ll see you in the morning.”  Deanna let herself out of their quarters and sighed.  It would be a long road for them, but she knew they would be alright, because they have loved each other for a very long time.

“Jean-Luc...get in bed with me...please?”  Beverly patted the empty space next to her. “Someone is wearing my pyjamas.”

“Just the top.” 

“Ah.”  Jean-Luc quickly removed his clothing and pulled on his pyjama bottoms before getting in bed with Beverly. “It’s a little early for sleep, my love.” 

“I know. Will you...hold me? I think we need to talk.” Jean-Luc pulled Beverly into his arms and held her close.  He kissed the top of her head. “Of course, my love.  Is everything alright?” 

“No...but I think it will be.”  Jean-Luc ran his fingers through her hair and gently detangled a knot with his fingers. “Talk to me, Bev.”

“I think the reason I am so upset over us having a daughter...a teenage daughter...is because I regret not getting together with you sooner.”

“I know, my love, you told me.  You said you regretted after the incident on KesPrytt not staying.”

“No. Sooner.”

“Sooner?”  Beverly turned to look at him. “I should have told you after Jack died that I had feelings for you.” 

“You did?”  Beverly nodded.  “I was so upset and scared...and I didn’t want to lose my best friend.  So I never said anything and I let you take me out to dinners and concerts and those stupid Starfleet balls...and every time you gently pecked my lips or kissed my cheek, I wanted to ask you in for more.”

“Oh, Beverly....”  Jean-Luc deeply kissed her. “I was afraid, too.  I didn’t want to hurt Jack’s memory and I was never sure what an appropriate amount of time was...”

“I think seventeen years was a little too long though, don’t you?”

“Yes.  We should have gotten together sooner.”  He pulled back to look at her face as he tried to puzzle out what Beverly was feeling.  “So you think if we had married sooner, we might have had a baby? And called her Clara?”  Beverly nodded. 

“And you think _this_ Clara is the Clara that could have been?”  Again, Beverly nodded as she wiped tears away from her eyes.  Jean-Luc gently pushed her fingers away and leaned in to kiss her tear-stained cheeks. 

“Oh, my love.  I’m so sorry.  We both were so afraid and stubborn....but we’re together now. That’s the important thing....we’re not so old, you know. We _could_ still have a baby together.  If that’s what you want to do.”

“Yes.  Maybe not right away.  We need to get married first.”

“Hmm, I suppose we do.”  Jean-Luc turned over her hand and kissed the gold band the holodeck had simulated. “When we get out of here, I suppose these bands will dissolve.”  Beverly frowned.  “I was getting used to it.” 

“We can get rings made that look like these if that’s what you want.”  Beverly screwed up her face. “Hmm. Maybe something a little more hard wearing?  Gold is pretty malleable.  But we could do them in the same style and colour them gold?” Jean-Luc smiled. “Absolutely, my love.  Now, do you feel better?”

“A little.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still wish we really had a fifteen year old named Clara.”

“I know.  I still feel as though Jack’s death was my fault.  I’ve always felt that way.”  Beverly shifted in Jean-Luc’s arms so she could cup his cheek. “You know that’s not true, Jean-Luc.  I read the reports.  I even listened to the log file where you protested Jack going out because of me and Wes.”  Jean-Luc’s eyes went wide.

“You...you did? You  never told me. When? “

“Uhm...seven years ago when we reclaimed the _Stargazer_.  After Data downloaded the files, I asked him to send me the logs from that day....I didn’t access your personal log, though.  Only the official ship’s logs.  I didn’t want to invade your privacy.”

“You can, if you want...though I’m not sure if it’s transcribable.  I was crying so hard after I spoke with you.  Then I called Walker on subspace and we got drunk together.”  Beverly smiled softly. “I miss Walker.”

“Me too, Bev.  He was....he was my best friend from my first day at the Academy, did you know?  We met they day of the entrance exam...well, my second exam, really.  And we stayed friends until...I should have brought him back to the _Enterprise_ that day.  He might have been spared...or we might all have died.” 

“Did Walker know how you felt about me?”  Jean-Luc nodded. “And he thought I was a fool for not telling you.  In fact, we talked about you when I saw him just before he was killed.” 

“You did?”

“We did.  He asked me why I hadn’t married you yet.”  Jean-Luc chuckled.  “Always trying to be a matchmaker, Walker.” Beverly smiled. 

The two fell into companionable silence for a few minutes, with Jean-Luc lightly stroking Beverly’s hip.  “Hey, that tickles.” 

“Does it?”  Jean-Luc grinned wickedly and lightly dragged his fingernails over her hip and Beverly started to laugh. “Stooop!” 

“Really?”

“No, not really. But I had to pretend to protest....don’t stop.”

###

Jean-Luc was holding a sleeping Beverly in his arms once more when he heard the knock on their door, followed by the door opening.  He assumed it was Wesley coming to talk about his date, and was surprised to hear Data’s voice alongside Wesley’s.  He gently unwrapped his arms from Beverly and kissed her forehead before reaching for his pyjama bottoms once more.  He padded out into the living room and raised his eyebrows as Data and Wesley appeared to be looking for something.  “Can I help you two gentlemen?”

“Captain, I adjusted my sensors and was scanning for Latinum, and I detected some in your quarters.” 

“Beverly and I looked and couldn’t find a comm badge, but by all means, carry out your search.  Just give me a minute to wake up Beverly.”  Jean-Luc returned to the bedroom to discover Beverly was already awake and she was pulling on his pyjama top again.  “Wesley and Data are here.  Data has detected Latinum in our quarters.”  Beverly stood up and reached for her knickers.  Jean-Luc groaned. “You look so delectable in my clothing.”  Beverly grinned. “I’ll remember that.”  She strode out into the living room and Wesley’s eyes bulged out.

“Did we...interrupt something?”

“Not this time, Wes.”

“Doctor, I have something for you.” 

“What’s that, Data?”  Data held out his hand to Beverly,and in his hand was her medial tricorder. “My tricorder! Data, where did you find it?” 

“In the hangar.  It appears to be in working order.”  Beverly flipped it open and turned it on. “Yep. All in working order.”  She wandered over to the photography of Wesley holding Clara and scanned the photo with her tricorder and exchanged a smile with Jean-Luc.

“Mom? You...know about the baby?”  Beverly nodded and retrieved the letter and handed it to Wesley. “Her name is Clara. I think she’s fifteen.” Wesley read the letter. “Are  you....Ok?”

“I will be, Wes.  I will be.”  Beverly handed her tricorder over to Data. “Data, can you program this to help with the scan without destroying anything I have saved?”

“Yes, Doctor.”  It took Data less than a minute to program the tricorder and he aimed it around their living room.  “Curious.  Doctor, Captain. You said you looked in your bedroom?” 

“We did, Data.  We didn’t find anything in there.” 

“May I?”  Jean-Luc indicated Data should enter the bedroom and then coloured when he realised how mussed the bed looked.  “Wesley, could you come in here?  When I lift the bed, will you scan under it?”  Wesley nodded and took the tricorder. 

“Data, this is weird.  The tricorder is detecting lots of Latium, but there’s nothing here.”  Jean-Luc knelt down next to Wes and followed where he had the tricorder aimed.  “Data, could something be under the floorboards?”

“It is possible, Sir.” 

“Right, why don’t we push the bed to one side so you can help us with these floorboards.” 

“Of course, Sir.”  Data pushed the bed upright against the wall and joined Wesley and Jean-Luc on the floor.  He used his strength to pry up the floorboards and Jean-Luc grabbed his head and moaned.

“Jean-Luc!”  Beverly ran into the room.  “Are you alright?”

“My head....I’m getting...dizzy....”  Jean-Luc fainted.  Beverly grabbed the tricorder from Wesley and scanned Jean-Luc with it. “He’ll be ok. He just fainted.  Data, can you move the Captain out to the sofa for me?”

“Yes, Doctor.”  Data picked up Jean-Luc as if he were a ragdoll and deposited him on the sofa and Beverly went to get a wet cloth to place on his forehead.

“Data!  You gotta see this!”  Wesley emerged from the bedroom holding a red sphere in his hands.  Beverly gasped. “Wesley....do you know what that is?  That’s the same kind of probe the Ferengi used on Jean-Luc when they had the _Stargazer_.”

“Is that why Dad fainted?”  Beverly nodded. “They must have been using this to direct his dreams.”

“How do we destroy it?”

“I told him to phaser it last time.” 

“Can we shoot it?”  Beverly slowly nodded.  “That might work. Take it to Will. He should be able to get a pistol.” 

###

“Damnit! I thought for sure the hugh-mon woman would have convinced Picard to stay in the program now that they have a daughter, but they only mated again.” 

“Uhm...DiaMon?  We have a problem....the kid and the robot found the mind probe.”

“I guess that changes our plans, Plek.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter than I would have liked, but the action is picking up!

“Admiral on Deck!” Alynna Nechayev sighed.  Without Picard around, the _Enterprise_ appeared to be commanded by a bunch of toddlers.

“At ease, Commader.” Trimble visibly relaxed.  “Report.”

“Sir...Uh....nothing new to report.  We, ah...can’t remove the force field around the holodeck and we still don’t know if the Captain is in there.” Alynna inwardly seethed.  _Was no one other than Picard and his senior staff competent on this ship?!_

“And trying to reach them on their badges?” 

“It doesn’t work, Sir.”  She sighed. “I’ll be in Picard’s Ready Room.” 

Alynna walked into Jean-Luc’s ready room and started pacing.  They were missing now for five days, but it sounded like they might stuck on the holodeck.  She hoped it wasn’t one of his silly promotion ceremonies again, but with Ensign Crusher’s recent graduation, anything  was possible. 

###

“I don’t have a gun!  No one has a gun. Well, Worf might.  Data, you stay here with the....orb.  Wesley, come with me to the MP barracks.  Data, don’t leave unless someone else from our group shows up...we don’t want this orb falling into the wrong hands.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Wesley, how are Captain Picard and your mother?”

“He’s unconscious.  Mom’s ok, but I think she’s worried about him.”  Deanna frowned. “I’ll go over there and see if I can help Beverly.” Will nodded.  “Good idea.” 

Wesley struggled to keep up with Will’s long legs as he strode across the base.  “Sir, do you think once we destroy the probe we’ll be able to get out of here?” 

“I don’t know, Wes.  But I think this is the first step.  If this is what was causing the Captain’s dreams...whoever brought us here intended for the Captain to stay here or go mad here.”  Wesley frowned.  “Mom said it was the same device the Ferengi had seven years ago when they brought back the _Stargazer_.  Would they really be that stupid to use the same thing again?”

“Wes...how much experience do _you_ have with the Ferengi?” 

“Uh...not much.  But hey, did you hear they are going to allow a Ferengi to attend the Academy?”  Will raised his eyebrows.  “Really?”

“Yeah.  Some kid from Deep Space Nine.  His Dad is an engineer.  I think his uncle runs the bar there.” 

“Quark.” 

“What does Physics have to do with anything?”  Will laughed and clapped Wesley on the shoulder. “No, Wes.  The barkeep is Quark.  I think I know which kid you’re talking about.  He seemed pretty smart.  Hope he’s not like all the other Ferengi.” 

“I’m just glad I’m not at the Academy anymore.”

“You know, Wes, you might eventually have to work with him.”  Wesley shook his head. “I hope not, Sir.  Not after everything the Ferengi have done to Captain Picard.  I don’t think I could.”

“You care about the Captain a lot, don’t you?” 

“Well, yeah.  I mean, he’s always been there for me and Mom....I used to wish he was my dad.”  Will grinned at the younger man.  “Well, Wes, you might just get that wish. It looks like your mom and the Captain will continue their relationship when we get out of here.”  Wesley’s eyes lit up.  “I hope so, Sir.”

They reached the MP barracks and located Worf easily, however, retrieving a weapon was a bit harder.  “I’m going to have to sign one out and hope no one asks questions.”

Worf strode to the locker that contained all the Service Revolvers and unlocked it. He picked up a Webley and a box of bullets.  “Alright, let’s go.  We’re going to have to disguise this as practice.”  Will grinned.  “Maybe you could teach Wesley how to shoot.” 

“Oh wow, could you Lieutenant?”  Worf frowned. “Hmm.  I am not sure I wish to face your mother’s ire.  I am not the Captain....”  Wesley grinned.  “Worf, I’m a qualified Ensign.  I don’t think I need my mother’s permission to learn how to shoot.” 

“I suppose...” 

“Right. It’s settled.  You’re going to teach Wesley how to shoot and if we happen to destroy an orb in the process...so be it.”

###

Deanna blushed when she entered Jean-Luc and Beverly’ bungalow  and saw the Captain shirtless and Beverly wearing his shirt. 

“Did they...interrupt something?”  Beverly grinned at her friend.  “No, we were sleeping. What time is it, anyway?”

“Six in the morning.” 

“Ugh, no wonder I’m exhausted.”  Deanna shot her a sympathetic look.  She had been sleeping until Data woke them up as well.  “I can make you some coffee?”

“No offense, Dee, but do you know how?” 

“Er...no?”

“I didn’t think so.  You didn’t grow up without modern technology, Jean-Luc and I both did.  Stay with the Captain and I’ll put the coffee on.  I think we’re going to need a lot of coffee today....”

“Will he be okay?”

“I think so, but Will needs to destroy that orb!” Deanna nodded . “He left it with Data and went to get Worf, Worf is the only one who has access to a gun.”  Beverly nodded. “I should have thought of that. Here’s my tricorder. Just scan the Captain every few minutes to make sure he’s only unconscious.”  She passed the device to Beverly and Deanna reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand. “If you want to shower and get dressed, I can look after Captain Picard for a while.”

“Thanks, Dee.  But I can wait.”

“Is everything....alright between you and the Captain? Did you have time to talk over everything before discovering the orb?”  Beverly grinned. “There was...some talking....”

“And?”

“We’re going to get married for real...and then maybe try for a baby.”  Deanna beamed at her friend. “I’m so happy for you, Beverly.” 

“Thanks.  You know, I’ll need a Maid of Honour....”  She grinned at her friend.  “Really?”  Beverly nodded.  “Absolutely. You know I’ll be there.”

“I still don’t like leaving Clara behind, but since we can’t go back and change things....” she sighed and a tear fell from her eyes.  Deanna knew her friend had a long road ahead of her to get past this. 

The women’s conversation was interrupted when they felt the floor under them waver, as if there had been an Earthquake. 

###

“What was that?”  The _Enterprise_ went to Red Alert as Nechayev stormed out of the Ready Room. “Report!”

“Admiral.  There...ah... seems to have been a disturbance.”  Nechayev glared. “Yes, I can _feel the disturbance under my feet_.  “What caused it?” 

“Uhm...hull breach?”

“You don’t sound so sure, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, Sir.  Definitely a Hull breach.  Deck 11.  Uhm....isn’t that where you think the Captain is?”

“Well, send a Security team!!”  Nechayev shook her head.  _Honestly.  How hard is it?  Who are these people.  Clearly, they’re not used to working on the bridge.  Picard is going to have his hands full doing some training exercises, that’s for sure._

DaiMon Zegg, Plek, and the two other Ferengi materialised onto Deck 11 and looked around, brandishing their disruptors.  “Where are all the hugh-mons? Why aren’t they here?”

“I don’t know! They should be here! Disable the force field! We’ll go get Picard.”

“Uhm...I can’t.”  Zegg stared angrily at Plek. “What do you mean, you can’t?!”

“You didn’t say to bring the tools for that job with me...”  Zegg threw up his hands. “Do I have to do _everything_ around here?!”

###

Jean-Luc slowly opened his eyes and was staring into the blue eyes of Beverly. “Beverly?  What...happened?”

“You passed out.  Do you remember Wesley holding up that red orb?” 

“Vaguely.”  Beverly smiled as Jean-Luc reached for her and pulled her towards him for a kiss.  “I love you.”

“I love you, too.  Can I finish telling you what happened?”  Jean-Luc pulled her down onto the sofa with him. “Mm, now you can.”

“Er...Deanna is here.”  Jean-Luc coloured.  “It’s alright, Captain. I’m glad to see you and Beverly in a healthy relationship. “Yes...ah....thank you....”  He started to loosen his hold on Beverly so she could get up, but she stayed put and kissed his nose. “Wesley took the orb to Will, and then they went to get Worf since he’s the only one with a gun.”

“A gun?”

“Yes, to shoot it...remember, last time I had you destroy it with a phaser?”  He nodded.  “Beverly, are things...changing?” 

“I don’t know.  But the floor shook and wavered.  Now, let’s get some coffee in you and let’s get dressed. I have a feeling we’ll be out of here in a few hours.”  Jean-Luc noticed Beverly glanced over at the frame holding the photo of Wesley and Clara and frowned. He hoped he would be able to help her recover. 

###

“Wow!!! That was cool! Did you see that?!”  Will grinned at his young friend, and even Worf had managed to crack a smile.  Wesley had shot at the red orb and it had exploded in a sea of sparks, which sent out a shockwave causing the ground to roll and the buildings around them to flicker.  “Data, we should check the walls.  We marked ours with paint to find it easily.” 

“Good idea, Wesley.  I still have the keys to my vehicle.”  Wesley looked over to Will. “Commander, can we?” 

“I think that would be a good idea.  Meet me back at your parent’s quarters as soon as you can to report.  Worf and I will head there and make sure the Captain is alright.”  Wesley hung his head. “I got so excited...I forgot about the Captain.  Can I go make sure he’s ok first?”  Will nodded and the four headed straight for the bungalow. 

To Wesley’s relief, Jean-Luc was sitting at the kitchen table, dressed in his RAF uniform drinking coffee with Deanna.  “Where’s Mom?”

“Getting dressed. I understand I have you to thank?” Jean-Luc addressed his question to Will.

“Oh no, Sir. Ensign Crusher fired the shot that destroyed it.” Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows. “Good job, Ensign.”  Jean-Luc took a sip of his coffee and offered the pot.  “Now that it’s destroyed, I think we can work on getting out of here, don’t you?”

“Yes, Sir.  Sir, Wesley suggested we go and take a look at the walls to see if they’ve changed at all. We noticed some of the buildings flickered.” 

“Good idea. Do you know what Commander La Forge and Lieutenant Barclay are doing?”

“When I left to scan for Latium, they were working on communications.”

“Fantastic.  Data, Wesley, take my...what is it called again?”

“I believe it is a Land Rover, Sir.”  Jean-Luc snapped his fingers. “Right. Take the Land Rover to the wall we marked and check on it.  Mister Worf, after you return your side arm, please bring Barclay and La Forge here with anything they are working on.  Number One, you and the Counsellor round up the rest of the crew.  We’re going to break out of here.”

Geordi and Reg arrived with armfuls of equipment.  “Sir, with the components from the comm badge Data found, we were able to rig up an amplifier using a field telephone, and parts of a code breaking machine. Do you want to try it?”  Jean-Luc nodded.  Geordi handed him the telephone. “Right. You’ll have to crank the phone first.  This is actually quite a incredible piece of technology for this era.”  Jean-Luc lifted the receiver and held it awkwardly to his ear as Reg turned the crank.  “Now just speak as if you had tapped your comm badge.”

“Picard to Bridge.”  Nothing happened. “Try again, Sir.”

“Picard to Bridge.”  Jean-Luc frowned.  Was there no one on the bridge? “Picard to Bridge!”  He practically shouted into the receiver.  A very static-filled reply came back. _“Br... ere.”_

Geordi and Reg grinned in relief.

###

“Admiral! I think it’s the Captain!”

_“...Ard...Ridge...”_

“Reply to him!”

“Bridge here.”

 _“Trapped....holo....engi...used ...ind control orb to....eams. Des....ed..orb...plan....cape.”_ Ensign T’su shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sir.  It’s garbled.”

“Can you clean it up?” 

“I will try.” 

“ _Trapped on the holodeck by the Ferengi.  They used a mind control orb to control my dreams. We Destroyed the orb and are trying to plan our escape.”_ Alynna grinned to herself. Good man, that Picard.  She turned to the Ensign. “Can I send a message back?”

“Yes.”

“Captain Picard, There is a force field around Holodeck 4J where we suspect you are.  Can you lift it?”

###

 _“Cap...ard...force...eild....deck 4J..susp...are....lift...it?”_ Jean-Luc shook his head. “That sounds like Admiral Nechayev, but I don’t know what she’s saying.”

“I’m sorry, Admiral.  Your words are breaking up.” 

###

“Ensign, can you help?”

“I don’t know, Sir. They’re using a odd frequency.”

“Well try.  I need to be able to speak with Captain Picard!”

###

“ _Captain Picard, this is Admiral Nechayev.  Can you hear me?”_ Jean-Luc grinned and exchanged glances with the crowd gathered in the bungalow.  “We can hear you.”

_“There is a force field around holodeck 4J.  We think that’s where you are.”_

“That makes sense, Sir. 4J is our largest holodeck.”  Jean-Luc nodded at Geordi and spoke into the telephone. “We will try to lift it. We seem to have most of engineering with us.”

_“We are sending security as we detected a hull breach.”_

“We might have caused that destroying the Orb.”  Geordi tapped a pencil against the table. “Sir, if they can get someone to disable the holodeck reactor, this whole thing should disappear.” 

“Admiral,  Can you send someone to disable the holodeck reactor?  Mister La Forge thinks if that i disabled, we should be able to get out of here.”

 _“I will see what I can do.  Ensign T’su has found your frequency, so I will contact you again once we do.  Nechayev out.”_   Jean-Luc handed Geordi the phone and he replaced in on the cradle.  “I guess now all we do is wait.” 

###

Zegg ducked into a doorway with Plek as he saw a group of Starfleet officers wearing gold uniforms rush by.  “Where are the others?”

“I can see Ratek’s ears over there.  I don’t see Ugroxac.”

“Let’s just hope the fool doesn’t get captured before we get Picard.”


	9. Chapter 9

Geordi, Data, Reg, Wesley, and the other engineers were all in the kitchen pouring over notepads and trying to work out how to disable the force field when they had no tools except for Beverly’s medical tricorder, which wasn’t going to work anyway as they had no way to recalibrate it for what they needed. 

Data suggested they find the door to the holodeck and then plug him into the system, but there was over 100 miles of wall to search on to try to find the doorway with the access panel.  Geordi offered up the technology in his VISOR, figuring they could easily make him a new one once they were out,  but without knowing what exactly they were up against, they really didn’t have much hope.

Jean-Luc looked over at his engineering team and grimaced.  “Number One, we appear to be getting nowhere.  Any suggestions?”

“No, Sir.  But once we get the holodeck back everything would be easier, wouldn’t it?”

“Indeed, Number One.  Perhaps we should be working on ways to disable the holodeck in addition to whoever is on the outside working on it. And of course, we still haven’t figured out why we are here or who put us here.” 

“Someone who wants to get you, based on those dreams you had.”

“True, but then why have me married to Beverly? What gain would anyone get off of Beverly and I being happy?”  Will frowned.  “Maybe they thought it would cause you more trauma to be married to Beverly and thinking you killed her first husband?”

“Could be, Number One.  Though I suppose Beverly and I might have been together when we were transported here.”  Will raised his eyebrows. “Together, sir?”  Jean-Luc gave Will a knowing grin. “Please keep that information to yourself, although I daresay the rumours about us will start to fly once we get out of here.” 

“Of course, Sir.”

###

_“Lieutenant McDowell, have you been able to access the holodeck reactor yet?”_

McDowell sighed before responding. “Not yet, Sir. It would be helpful if I knew where it was.”

_“We can try to reach the holodeck and ask Commander La Forge.”_

“Please? I’ll wait.”  McDowell sat back on his haunches in the Jeffries tube he was currently crawling in while he waited.  _“Commander La Forge said it’s located in a wall panel on Deck 11 between two of the holodecks.”_

“Which ones?”

 _“He didn’t specify.”_ McDowell sighed. “Brilliant.  McDowell out.”    He tossed his tool kit back on his shoulder and continued to crawl.  He hoped he didn’t run into any of the intruders while he was in there. 

It felt like ages, but he finally arrived at Deck 11 and swung himself out of the tube, kicking a Ferengi in the face in the process.  Ugroxac’s disrupter went tumbling away from him. “Ow!  You kicked me.”

“Should’t have stood so close to the Jeffries tube. Who are you?”  McDowell picked up the distrupter and aimed it at the small Feregi man.  “My name is Ugroxac.” 

“I see.”

“I’m guarding the force field.” McDowell eyed him over.  “Not doing a very good job, are you?”  McDowell tapped his badge. “McDowell to Security. Send a team to Deck 11 by Jeffries tube 23.  I have one of the intruders.” McDowell turned to the Ferengi. “Now. Ugroxac, was it?  Since you are here to guard the force field, you won’t mind showing me where it is, would you?”

“N...N...No.” Ugroxac pointed to a small device attached to the wall. “This is the force field device.”

“Hmm. How do I deactivate it?”

“Oh, you just need to use a hypersonic spanner  on it.”  McDowell held up his. “Like this one?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Show me.”  Ugroxac took the spanner and adjusted it before aiming it at the force field device and the field went down. McDowell kicked the device until it cracked to prevent it from being enabled again. “Thanks for your help, Ugrox.  I’ll make sure the Captain knows how helpful you’ve been.”

The security team arrived and McDowell passed over the weapon he had. “Here, take him. I don’t think he’ll be any trouble, but he might have friends here.”

“I do!  My cousin Plek!”  McDowell rolled his eyes. “Right, and look for another one, I guess.” 

“Plek serves DaiMon Zegg. Ratek is here too.” 

“Make that, three other Ferengi.”  McDowell shook his head as security led the Ferengi man away.  _Are all Ferengi that stupid?_ He tapped his comm badge. “McDowell to Bridge.”

_“Bridge here.”_

“I haven’t found the reactor, but the force field is down now. They might finally be able to leave.” 

_“Thank you, Lieutenant.  Continue to look for the reactor. Bridge out.”_

Up on the bridge, Alynna Nechayev heaved a sigh of relief. “Call Picard.” 

In the bungalow, the field telephone rang. “Sir, you need to wind the handle before you pick it up.”

“Picard here.”

 _“Captain Picard, we have managed to disable the force field around your holodeck.”_ Alynna paused as she heard some of the crew cheering.  _“You might be able to get out of there.”_

“Thank you, Admiral.  Uhm...we’re going to need some uniforms or blankets....most of our clothing has been created by the holodeck and we haven’t found our uniforms.” 

 _“I’ll have some beamed in. Nechayev out.”_   Jean-Luc hung up the phone and grinned. “We should be able to get out of here now.  Computer: Door!”  Everyone started to cheer as a door slowly appeared and a few even ran towards it. “Wait.  We need uniforms first as the clothing we are wearing will disappear when we leave.”  There were groans mixed with laughs.

A pile of uniforms materialised alongside some pips, communicators, and phasers.  Jean-Luc rifled in the pile until he found a red uniform around his size and a blue on that looked like it would fit Beverly.  He grabbed 7 pips and 2 badges and motioned to her to join him in the bedroom. “I’d like the senior staff to make sure they all have appropriate uniforms first, then the junior staff.  If your uniform doesn’t match your department, don’t worry right now.”

“Sir, what about shoes?”   Another voice piped up “And underwear?”  Jean-Luc chuckled. “We’re just going to have to do the best that we can.” 

Beverly closed the bedroom door behind her.  “So, this is it, then?  The end of our marriage?”   She frowned and Jean-Luc drew her into his arms. “Or the beginning of it.”  He kissed her tenderly.  Beverly looked at their entwined fingers and the gold bands.  “It’s going to feel weird, not wearing a wedding ring. I know it’s only been a few days, but I...I guess I got used to being Mrs Picard.” 

“Would you take my name after we get married?”

“I don’t think I ever really thought about what I would do if I got married again.  I kept Crusher after Jack died mostly so that Wesley and I would have the same last name while he was growing up....but he’s an adult now.  I’ve been Crusher for so long though...nearly all my professional contacts know me as Crusher and that’s how I’m credited on all my papers.  But.....”  she gave his hand a squeeze before continuing. “There’s something really nice about sharing your name.”

“Perhaps you could continue to use Crusher professionally?” Beverly tilted her head while she considered it. “Hmm. Maybe.  I suppose I could continue to publish papers under Crusher.  But I think I would like to be Doctor Picard.”  She leaned up and kissed him.

“You know, I’m technically Doctor Picard, too.”  Her eyes widened. “You are?”  He nodded.  “About two years after the _Stargazer_ was destroyed....I didn’t know where you were –“

“Kansas City.” 

“Oh, right.  Well, I didn’t know where you were and Walker wouldn’t tell me – “

“That idiot.  I told him I didn’t want anyone to know where I was, but I never expected him to keep that information from you. No wonder I never heard from you.”  Jean-Luc grinned. “Quite.  There never was a more loyal friend than Walker Keel.”  Beverly smiled.  She still missed the man. 

“I didn’t have a ship, I didn’t have you,”  he tightened his grip on her hips, “so I took a leave of absence.  Went to Alpha Centauri University and finished my doctorate in Archaeology.” 

“Oh, but that’s wonderful Jean-Luc.  What made you come back?” 

“Walker.  And Quinn.  Walker convinced me Jack’s death wasn’t my fault and I couldn’t have prevented the _Stargazer_ ’s destruction.  He told me Admiral Quinn had an important job for me...then Quinn offered me the _Enterprise_ , and Walker told me he already knew who my Chief Medical Officer was...I think he was trying to play matchmaker, don’t you?”  Beverly grinned. “I wish he was here to see us together now.”

“Me too.”  The lovers reflected on their fallen friend for a moment before Jean-Luc kissed Beverly’s forehead. “Right. I suppose we had better change,” he grinned. “You know, I’ve always wanted to go commando.” 

“I usually do.”  Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows at his fiancée. “You do?”

“Uh-huh.  Only since we got issued the jumpsuits though.  My knickers always bunched up, so I stopped wearing them.” 

“That’s something you’re going to regret ever telling me...now all I’m going to think about every time I see you is the fact that you aren’t wearing any underwear.”  Beverly stuck out her tongue. “Good.”

Beverly tugged off the girdle and sent it flying across the bedroom. “I might miss being here with you, but I _won’t_ miss that girdle!  The last time I wore one was when we came to play one of your Dixon Hill holonovels, but that was only for a few hours. How women wore these for hours on end is beyond me.”  Jean-Luc laughed at her and picked up the girdle and tossed it in the hamper. “The hamper? _Really_?  This place is going to disappear.” 

“I figured we would let some of the crew change in here.  Wouldn’t want them to think we....”

“Think we what? Tore each other’s clothing off in a frenzy and made love with them out in the living room?”  Beverly sauntered closer and pulled off her bra and stood before him naked.  Jean-Luc sucked in a breath and rested his hands on her hips.  “Something like that.  Have I told you you are a minx?”  She laughed and kissed him before pulling away.  “Just think. Admiral Nechayev is waiting for you on the Bridge.”  Jean-Luc shuddered. “You’re evil.”

“I looove you!”

“I know.  I love you, too. But you’re still evil.” They quickly finished changing and left their bedroom and Jean-Luc addressed the crew. “If you want to use the bedroom as a changing room, feel free.”  Jean-Luc noticed that Data, Geordi, Will, Worf,  and Wesley had already changed into their uniforms and Deanna was coming out of the bathroom dressed in hers. About a half dozen other crew members had started to change, but he noticed many were forming a queue to change in either the bathroom or bedroom.  “Better hurry, people, we don’t know how much longer we’ll have this.”  Jean-Luc picked up a phaser and passed one to Will and one to Worf. “Mister Worf,  arm your security team, then distribute the rest of the phasers.  Data, Mister La Forge, Wesley, Bev, Counsellor...you take phasers too.”

Deanna shook her head. “No thank you, Sir.” 

“ _Counsellor_...”

“I’d really prefer not, Captain.”  Jean-Luc sighed and looked over at Beverly who shrugged as she holstered hers opposite her tricorder. “Well, it’s your decision, but we don’t know what we are facing out there.”

“I understand, Sir. I would just prefer not to have one.”  Jean-Luc nodded.  “Number One, I want you and Mister Worf on the first wave, Mister Data and Mister Barclay-“

“Me?”

“Yes, Lieutenant. You.  I want you with Data.  Mister La Forge, you’ll be with Beverly.  Wesley, I want you to stick with the counsellor. “ Wesley nodded and moved towards Deanna.  “And you, Sir?”

“I’m going to wait.  Whoever used that mind contraption is obviously looking for me.  Let’s see if they show up.” 

“Sir, you should have someone with you.  Worf or Data?” 

“I’ll be fine, Number One.”  Beverly rolled her eyes. “Something to say, Doctor?”

“No, _Captain_ , I do not.”  Jean-Luc gave her a grin. “Good. Now, put together your teams and let’s get out of here.”  Will pointed at a few people to join his team and positioned himself in front of the door, with Data, Barclay, and their team waiting behind.  Will glanced back at his Captain and on his mark, ordered the door to open. 

Will and Worf came out with phasers ready to shoot anyone who was in their way and there was...no one. The corridor was completely empty.  “Stand down. It’s clear.”  Everyone began to stream out of the holodeck and Will and Worf went back in to speak with Jean-Luc.  Out of the corner of Worf’s eye as he turned around, he spotted a pair of large ears.  “Halt!” 

“What are you going to do to me, Klingon?  Shoot me?”   Worf levelled his phaser at the DiaMon.  “Drop your weapon.” 

“No.”  Will turned around and aimed his phaser at Zegg. “I think he said to drop your weapon.”  Zegg reluctantly dropped his weapon. “Good, we’re getting somewhere.  Now, tell us why you are here.”

“Take me to your Captain. I will only speak with them!”  Will’s eyes glinted. “That would be the person in command of this ship, yes?”

“Are you stoo-pid hugh-mon? YES. Take me to your commander!”  Will glanced over at Worf and Worf caught on.  “This way....” Worf grabbed the DiaMon by his shoulder and headed for the Bridge. 

Will ducked his head back in the Holodeck, where Jean-Luc was waiting. He still had Wesley and Deanna with him, and Geordi and Beverly.  “Sir, we found their, uh, leader.  He’s being escorted to the Bridge.”

“The Bridge?”

“Well, Sir, he asked to speak with the person in command of the ship.”  Jean-Luc laughed. “Very clever, Number One.”  Jean-Luc stood and wrapped an arm around Beverly.  “I think I will return to my quarters for some boots.  Much as I enjoy walking around the ship barefoot...Oh, and Number One?” 

“Sir?”

“Please see that Beverly’s quarters are reassigned.  She’ll be moving in with me.” Will winked at Beverly. “Would that be as Doctor Crusher, or Doctor Picard, Sir?”  Jean-Luc blushed and Beverly laughed. “Crusher for now, Will.  We need to get married first....And I think I know just who to ask to perform the ceremony before she leaves...”  Jean-Luc groaned. “Really?  You want me to ask Admiral Nechayev to marry us?”

“Uh-huh.”   Jean-Luc grumbled. “Fine, I’ll do it.”  Beverly beamed.  “But let me get some shoes first?”

###

“Do you think he has him?”  Plek sighed.  “I don’t know, Ratek.” 

“Should we...come out?”

“No! Not until we get the signal,” Plek hissed.  He hoped the signal from DiaMon Zegg came soon.  Ratek was going to drive him mad. 

“Oh.  Plek, I’m hungry.  Got any food?”

“NO!”

###

Jean-Luc and Beverly were walking down the corridor towards his quarters, a silly grin plastered to Jean-Luc’s face. 

“What’s got you grinning like a five-year-old on Christmas?” 

“I just love being barefoot.  You know, I don’t think I ever walked through the corridors barefoot before.  It’s quite nice.”  Beverly could only smirk.  “Wear high heels at the next diplomatic function. You’ll be walking around barefoot by the end of the evening.”

“Why do you wear them?”  Beverly tossed her hair over her shoulder.  “Because I know they make my legs look good, and I know you look at them.”  Jean-Luc glanced down the corridor in either direction and seeing no one around he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled against her neck. “It’s not so much the legs, as who’s attached to them, my love.” 

###

Worf tossed DiaMon Zegg through the turbolift doors onto the bridge. “Admiral, Sir, this is DiaMon Zig.  He refuses to speak with anyone other than the person in command of the _Enterprise.”_  Through clenched teeth Zegg said,  “It’s Zegg.” Worf merely glared back.

“I see.  Well, then, Zig, was it?  What do you have to say for yourself?” Zegg scowled.  “I said I wanted to see the Captain.  I want Captain Picard, not this.....Fe-male wearing too much clothes!”  Worf grabbed Zegg by the ears and lifted him up. “That female is the Rear Fleet Admiral of Starfleet and you _will_ treat her with respect.” 

“I refuse to speak with her.  I want Picard.” 

“Fine then. Mister Worf, take him to the Brig.  Oh, and put some shoes on, would you?” 

“Yes, Sir.”


End file.
